Jilin University reveals genetic journey of walnuts

A millennium-old walnut has revealed its genetic secrets. Researchers from the School of Life Sciences of Jilin University, led by Professor Cui Yinqiu, together with Associate Professor Wang Le from the College of Plant Science, have obtained the world's first ancient walnut whole-genome data using ancient DNA technology.

By combining paleogenomics with population genetics, the team systematically traced how walnuts spread along the Silk Road and uncovered key patterns in their genetic evolution. This breakthrough fills a major gap in ancient walnut genomic research and provides direct molecular evidence for understanding the dissemination and domestication of important economic crops along the Silk Road.

The study was published in the international journal Cell Reports. Doctoral student Zhang Beining from Jilin University and Professor Hu Xingjun from Xinjiang University served as co-first authors, while Wang Le and Cui Yinqiu were co-corresponding authors.