Abstract: The poplar is one of the most economically important and intensively studied tree species owing to its wide application in the timber industry and as a model material for the study of woody plants. The natural resource of poplars in China is replete. Over the past 10 years, the application of molecular biological techniques to genetic improvements in poplar species has been widely studied in China. Recent advances in molecular genetic improvements of poplar, including cDNA library construction, gene cloning and identification, genetic engineering, gene expression, genetic linkage map construction, mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and molecular-assisted selection, are reviewed in the present paper. In addition, the application of modern biotechnology to molecular improvements in the genetic traits of the poplar and some unsolved problems are discussed.（*Author for correspondence. Tel: +86 (0)10 6233 8105; E-mail:linsz2002@163.com）

Key words: poplar, gene engineering, genetic improvement, genetic linkage maps, molecular marker, quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping.