Genetic Improvement in <i>Juglans mandshurica</i> and Its Uses in China: Current Status and Future Prospects

Juglans mandshurica is an economically and ecologically valuable species that is used for various construction purposes, making luxurious furniture, as food and sources of medicinal substances and landscaping because of its excellent wood, edible fruits and rich in various types of chemical compounds. In the past few decades, several genetic improvements of J. mandshurica were made, with a focus on the selection of improved varieties and on breeding technology. Many elite provenances and families were selected based on growth traits or wood properties. In recent years, with the increasing demand for high-quality seedlings in Chinese forestry production, the breeding goals of genetic improvement for J. mandshurica were redefined to include other traits, such as fruit yield and contents of medicinal component. However, the improvement processes were still slow due to the long breeding cycle and the limited use of advanced breeding technologies, resulting in the selection of fewer improved varieties. In this review, we summarized the research progresses on genetic improvements of J. mandshurica and other related works, and discussed research gaps and suggested future directions for genetic improvement of the species. The review provides valuable insight for the selection of improved varieties and production of excellent germplasms.