Advances in Sexual and Asexual Propagation of Toxicodendron vernicifluum: Mechanisms, Bottlenecks, and Industrialized Breeding Perspectives

Toxicodendron vernicifluum is an economically important lacquer-producing tree endemic to East Asia; propagation bottlenecks severely restrict elite clone industrialization. This review summarizes 20 years of the domestic and international literature on seed propagation, root cutting, stem cutting, grafting, and tissue culture of lacquer tree, compares technical performance among China, Japan, Vietnam, and Mediterranean Rhus species, and quantitatively summarizes germination/rooting rates across protocols. Sexual propagation has low rooting efficiency; tissue culture faces high cost and browning obstacles; molecular regulatory mechanisms remain poorly characterized. We propose an integrated breeding framework combining molecular mechanism dissection, low-cost vegetative propagation optimization, and standardized plantlet production. Future directions including multi-omics analysis, gene-edited easy-rooting germplasm, and bioreactor micropropagation are highlighted to support large-scale elite clonal stock production in Qinba Mountain regions.