Profile

A national forestry and grassland advisory expert on non-timber forestry, conducting molecular breeding research for the northward expansion of Eucommia.

Story

Bai Yu'e is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the College of Forestry, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, head of the first-level discipline of forestry, one of the first cohort of non-timber forestry advisory experts of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and a council member of the Tree Genetics and Breeding Branch of the Chinese Society of Forestry. She has long engaged in forest tree genetics and breeding, was a visiting scholar at Chiba University in Japan, and has led three National Natural Science Foundation of China projects. Beyond her traditional research subject, sandy-land spruce, she has in recent years introduced Eucommia into the cold and arid region of Inner Mongolia for germplasm adaptability and molecular breeding research.

In collaboration with Qing Jun and others, using 10-year-old Eucommia germplasm resources in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, she obtained 58.06 Gb of transcriptome sequencing data and identified 11,689 genes, screening out nine key genes related to chlorogenic acid biosynthesis in Eucommia leaves. The work revealed that active components first increase and then decline during leaf development, providing a scientific basis for the cultivation, harvest timing and quality control of Eucommia in northern China, as well as germplasm and technical reserves for the northward expansion of Eucommia cultivation.

Milestones

• In July 2025, published research on chlorogenic acid-related genes of Eucommia in the Journal of Central South University of Forestry and Technology
• Leads her team in Eucommia germplasm introduction and adaptability observation in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, extending the northern boundary of Eucommia cultivation
• Serves on the Inner Mongolia Improved Tree Variety Certification Committee, participating in variety certification

Key Contributions

• Leads Eucommia-related research funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and others; published studies on the Eucommia leaf transcriptome and chlorogenic acid synthesis genes as corresponding author
• Among the first cohort of non-timber forestry advisory experts of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration; council member of the Tree Genetics and Breeding Branch of the Chinese Society of Forestry
• Led 3 National Natural Science Foundation of China projects; certified the Inner Mongolia regional improved tree varieties 'Mengxing 1' and 'Mengxing 3'
• Won the Second Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of the 14th Liang Xi Forestry Science and Technology Award in 2024
• Named one of Inner Mongolia's 'Most Beautiful Science and Technology Workers' in 2026