Phylogenetic Position of Durian and Comparative Genomics with Close Relatives in Malvaceae

Durio zibethinus Murr . is a famous tropical fruit tree of the Mallow family. It is known as the "king of fruits" for its unique and strong odor and high economic value. This study reviews the phylogenetic location of durian in the Malvaceae family, and a comparative analysis of related species of durian and Malvaceae family based on the latest genomics research. Through comparative genomic analysis, it was found that the genomic collinearity of durian and Malvaceae remained conservative in genomic collinearity, but there were also chromosomal rearrangements and gene families. We also compared the evolution of key functional genes of durian and its relative species: the ethylene signal and secondary metabolic pathway genes related to durian fruit maturation showed unique expression and evolutionary patterns, and the disease-resistant and stress-responsive genes also had copy number variation and selection pressure differences among different species. Case analysis shows that the genomes of durian and cocoa (Theobroma cacao) are similar in overall structure but different in scale, and durian and kapok ( Bombax Ceiba ) are phylogenetically closer, sharing some conserved gene clusters. The end of this study looks forward to the application prospects of durian genome research in variety improvement. Based on the research progress in the past five years, we have deepened our understanding of the genome evolution of durian and its related species, which will provide a scientific basis for the genetic improvement of durian and the development and utilization of plant resources in the Malvaceae family.