Integrated physiological and genomic analysis reveals structural variations and expression patterns of candidate genes for colored- and green-leaf poplar.

Colored-leaf plants are increasingly popular and have been attracting more and more attentions. However, the molecular mechanism of leaf coloration in plants has not been fully understood. In this study, a colored-leaf cultivar of Populus deltoides (Caihong poplar, CHP) and green-leaf cultivar of Populus deltoides L2025 were used to explore the mechanism of leaf coloration through physiological and the whole genome resequencing analysis.