Genetius

The study generated fully‑phased, chromosome‑scale genome assemblies for four Cannabis sativa genotypes using Oxford Nanopore long reads, PECAT assembly, and Hi‑C data scaffolded with YaHS. Despite low QV, the assemblies match HiFi references in contiguity and gene content, and comparative analysis with 77 other haplotypes provides phylogenetic insight and the first draft of the Cannabis pan‑NLRome.

The study examined how dual‑purpose hemp (Cannabis sativa) adjusts to different phosphate levels, showing that flower biomass is maintained unless phosphate is completely removed. Integrated physiological measurements and transcriptomic profiling revealed that phosphate is reallocated to flowers via glycolytic bypasses and organic phosphate release, while key regulatory genes followed expected patterns but did not suppress uptake at high phosphate, leading to nitrate depletion that limits growth.

The study combined extensive RNA‑Seq data (117 datasets) with comparative genomics across nine Cannabis sativa genomes to map the molecular networks controlling flower development, sex determination, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis. It identified 31 MADS‑box orthogroups with sex‑specific expression patterns and revealed chemotype‑specific expression of cannabinoid pathway genes in glandular trichomes, providing targets for breeding and functional studies.

The study genotyped 145 Iranian Cannabis sativa landrace accessions with 233K SNPs and conducted GWAS, revealing three geographically structured subpopulations and 91 genomic regions linked to 40 phenotypic traits, including key pleiotropic loci affecting flowering time, architecture, biomass, and cannabinoid biosynthesis. High trait heritability and rapid LD decay indicate strong potential for high-resolution mapping and marker-assisted breeding of cannabis cultivars with tailored agronomic and phytochemical profiles.

The study integrated weekly morphophysiological measurements with high-density genotyping-by-sequencing data and a machine‑learning pipeline to dissect flowering time variation in diverse Cannabis sativa landraces. By applying mutual information, recursive feature elimination, random forest, and support vector machine classifiers to over 234,000 combined genetic, phenotypic, and environmental features, the authors identified 53 key markers that classify early, medium, and late flowering types with 96.6% accuracy. Notable loci, including CsFT3 and CsCFL1, were highlighted as promising targets for breeding and smart‑crop strategies.

The study identifies and validates stable housekeeping genes for qRT-PCR normalization in Cannabis sativa and designs specific primers, while also constructing a genome-wide gene coexpression network from public RNA-Seq data. Analysis of the network reveals 32 coexpression modules with tissue-specific patterns linked to key physiological processes such as flowering, fiber development, photoperiod sensitivity, and stress responses.

The study investigates the genetic basis of sex determination in Cannabis sativa, identifying a X‑chromosome locus (Monoecy1) that governs the switch between dioecy and monoecy. Transcriptomic and genomic analyses reveal three tightly linked genes with sex‑specific expression, suggesting their combined action controls both flower type and individual sex phenotype.

A micropropagation protocol using axillary buds of Cannabis sativa 'Charlies Dream' was optimized with various plant growth regulators, showing that TDZ initially promotes shoot proliferation while BAP catches up by 30 days, and that vitamin supplementation offers no benefit. Although in vitro rooting failed, direct soil rooting—especially after IBA pretreatment—produced viable plants, and the CBD/Δ9-THC ratio remained unchanged between donor and regenerated plants, confirming clonal propagation preserves cannabinoid profiles.

The study applies the trio‑binning strategy to separate Oxford Nanopore reads from a Cannabis F1 cross between a Colombian landrace and a Colorado CBD clone, achieving haplotype‑specific assemblies at ~18× coverage per haplotype with high contiguity and gene completeness. This cost‑effective approach enables genome‑wide haplotype phasing and reveals copy‑number and structural variations linked to disease resistance and secondary metabolite pathways relevant to Cannabis breeding.

The study identified a conserved Y-linked gene, CsPDS5, and developed a single‑primer PCR assay that distinguishes male and female Cannabis sativa plants with 100% accuracy across 14 cultivars and multiple crosses, enabling early sex determination before flowering. The authors also present a pipeline for discovering X/Y polymorphic genes that can be applied to other dioecious species.