Cloning and characterization of cotton GhBG gene encoding beta-glucosidase.

Beta-1,4-glucosidase (BG, EC3.2.1.21), one of three cellulases, is a widespread family of enzymes involved in the metabolism of cell wall polysaccharides in both prokaryocytes and eukaryotes. Here, we report the isolation of a full-length cDNA encoding beta-1,4-glucosidase protein (designated as GhBG) and its putative function in the process of fiber development and in yeast. Through random sequencing of the cotton fiber cDNA library from 7235 germplasm line, with elite fiber quality in Gossypium hirsutum L. and utilizing the 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique, a 2133 bp cDNA clone encoding a cotton fiber specifically expressed protein (accession number: DQ103699) was isolated. GhBG was composed of a 1884 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding 627 amino acid residues. This putative protein had an isoelectric point of 8.17, a calculated molecular weight of 68.78 KD and a signal peptide with 23 amino acid residues at the N-terminal. RT-PCR analysis indicated GhBG was specifically expressed in fiber cells and was highly abundant in 5-17 day post anthesis (DPA). It was not, however, expressed in root, hypocotyls or leaves. Southern blotting analysis showed there were two copies of GhBG in the upland cotton genome; most likely contained in sub-genome A and sub-genome D. GhBG was then integrated into a yeast expression vector, pREP-5N and electro-transformed into fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe Q-01. The results demonstrated that GhBG led to a significant increase in cell length and width and a remarkable decrease of the length/width ratio. Compared to vector control transformants, cells were significantly larger and rounder and their growth velocity was also reduced.     

棉花PTS2受体基因(GhPex7)的克隆及表达分析

利用cDNA—AFLP差异片段F010,通过RACE延伸、EST、检索等方法获得了一个棉花过氧化物酶体定位信号2受体蛋白基因(peroxisomal targetingsignal type 2 receptor,GhPex7p)的编码序列。该cDNA包含一个954bp的开放阅读框,编码317个氨基酸,推测其等电点为5．603。同源性分析表明：推测GhPex7与拟南芥、酵母、果蝇、小鼠和人的Pex7p基因存在序列相似性,其中与拟南芥的同源性最高,为83％,并具有3段WD-40蛋白家族的保守域,与拟南芥AtPex7的编码蛋白同类。Southern杂交结果表明该基因在陆地棉基因组中存在两个拷贝。Northern blotting和RT-PCR分析表明该基因在棉花根、茎、叶、花、胚珠和纤维中均表达,但茎、叶组织中的表达水平明显高于胚珠和纤维。     

Isolation of a cotton CAP gene: a homologue of adenylyl cyclase-associated protein highly expressed during fiber elongation

The cDNA encoding CAP (adenylyl cyclase-associated protein) was isolated from a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fiber cDNA library. The cDNA (GhCAP) contained an open reading frame that encoded 471 amino acid residues. RNA blot analysis showed that the cotton CAP gene was expressed mainly in young fibers.     

Molecular mechanisms of fiber differential development between G. barbadense and G. hirsutum revealed by genetical genomics

Cotton fiber qualities including length, strength and fineness are known to be controlled by genes affecting cell elongation and secondary cell wall (SCW) biosynthesis, but the molecular mechanisms that govern development of fiber traits are largely unknown. Here, we evaluated an interspecific backcrossed population from G. barbadense cv. Hai7124 and G. hirsutum acc. TM-1 for fiber characteristics in four-year environments under field conditions, and detected 12 quantitative trait loci (QTL) and QTL-by-environment interactions by multi-QTL joint analysis. Further analysis of fiber growth and gene expression between TM-1 and Hai7124 showed greater differences at 10 and 25 days post-anthesis (DPA). In this two period important for fiber performances, we integrated genome-wide expression profiling with linkage analysis using the same genetic materials and identified in total 916 expression QTL (eQTL) significantly (P<0.05) affecting the expression of 394 differential genes. Many positional cis-/trans-acting eQTL and eQTL hotspots were detected across the genome. By comparative mapping of eQTL and fiber QTL, a dataset of candidate genes affecting fiber qualities was generated. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis confirmed the major differential genes regulating fiber cell elongation or SCW synthesis. These data collectively support molecular mechanism for G. hirsutum and G. barbadense through differential gene regulation causing difference of fiber qualities. The down-regulated expression of abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene signaling pathway genes and high-level and long-term expression of positive regulators including auxin and cell wall enzyme genes for fiber cell elongation at the fiber developmental transition stage may account for superior fiber qualities.     

Characterization of the Brassinosteroid Insensitive 1 Genes of Cotton

Suppression of brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis in cotton ovules by treatment with brassinazole inhibits fiber formation, indicating that BR plays an important role in cotton fiber development. Plant responses to brassinosteroids (BR) are mediated through a plasma membrane-bound leucine-rich repeat (LRR) receptor-like protein kinase known as BRI1. Mutations in the BRI1 genes of several species result in dwarfed plants with reduced sensitivity to BR. A single expressed sequence tag (EST) from cotton with strong sequence similarity to Arabidopsis BRI1 ( AtBRI1 ) was identified in a search of publicly available databases. With this EST as a starting point, full-length cDNAs and genomic coding sequences from upland cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum ) BRI1 ( GhBRI1 ) were obtained and characterized. Ectopic expression of this coding sequence in BR-insensitive Arabidopsis plants resulted in recovery of normal growth indicating that GhBRI1 is a functional homologue of AtBRI1. G. hirsutum is an allotetraploid (AADD) derived from diploid ancestors. Analysis of several GhBRI1 cDNAs showed two distinct sequences indicating the presence of two GhBRI1 genes, denoted GhBRI1-1 and GhBRI1-2. Sequence comparisons between these GhBRI1 coding sequences and those from related A and D genome diploid Gossypium species ( G. arboreum and G. thurberi ) indicated that GhBRI1-1 is likely to the A sub-genome orthologue while GhBRI1-2 is from the D sub-genome.     

Role of GhHDA5 in H3K9 deacetylation and fiber initiation in Gossypium hirsutum

Cotton fibers are single‐celled trichomes that initiate from the epidermal cells of the ovules at or before anthesis. Here, we identified that the histone deacetylase (HDAC ) activity is essential for proper cotton fiber initiation. We further identified 15 HDAC s homoeologs in each of the A‐ and D‐subgenomes of Gossypium hirsutum . Few of these HDAC homoeologs expressed preferentially during the early stages of fiber development [?1, 0 and 6 days post‐anthesis (DPA )]. Among them, GhHDA 5 expressed significantly at the time of fiber initiation (?1 and 0 DPA). The in vitro assay for HDAC activity indicated that GhHDA 5 primarily deacetylates H3K9 acetylation marks. Moreover, the reduced expression of GhHDA 5 also suppresses fiber initiation and lint yield in the RNA interference (RNA i) lines. The 0 DPA ovules of GhHDA 5 RNA i lines also showed alterations in reactive oxygen species homeostasis and elevated autophagic cell death in the developing fibers. The differentially expressed genes (DEG s) identified through RNA ‐seq of RNA i line (DEP 12) and their pathway analysis showed that GhHDA 5 modulates expression of many stress and development‐related genes involved in fiber development. The reduced expression of GhHDA 5 in the RNA i lines also resulted in H3K9 hyper‐acetylation on the promoter region of few DEG s assessed by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. The positively co‐expressed genes with GhHDA 5 showed cumulative higher expression during fiber initiation, and gene ontology annotation suggests their involvement in fiber development. Furthermore, the predicted protein interaction network in the positively co‐expressed genes indicates HDA 5 modulates fiber initiation‐specific gene expression through a complex involving reported repressors.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of GhlecRK, a novel kinase gene with lectin-like domain from Gossypium hirsutum.

A novel gene encoding a lectin-like protein kinase was cloned from the upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) through cDNA library screening. This gene (named as Ghlecrk; GenBank accession number: AY487461) had a total length of 2233bp with an open reading frame of 1926bp, and encoded a predicted polypeptide of 641 amino acids with a molecular weight of 71.16kDa. The GhLecRK protein shared 73, 65, 64 and 59% identity with other lectin-like kinase proteins isolated from A. thaliana (At3g53810, At2g37710, At3g55550) and Populus nigra (PnLPK) at amino acid level, respectively. Southern blot analysis showed that GhLecRK belonged to a multi-copy gene family. Expression patterns revealed that GhLecRK was enriched in the developing boll (six days post anthesis, 6DPA) and shoot, but low in the root and stem and no expression in the leaf. The domains analysis showed that GhlecRK protein possessed many activating sites/domains including ATP-binding sites, a transmembrane region, a lectin-like domain and a kinase domain. These results indicate that GhlecRK is a lectin-like membrane protein that may play an important role in the phase of fiber development.     

The cotton ACTIN1 gene is functionally expressed in fibers and participates in fiber elongation

Single-celled cotton fiber (Gossypium hirsutum) provides a unique experimental system to study cell elongation. To investigate the role of the actin cytoskeleton during fiber development, 15 G. hirsutum ACTIN (GhACT) cDNA clones were characterized. RNA gel blot and real-time RT-PCR analysis revealed that GhACT genes are differentially expressed in different tissues and can be classified into four groups. One group, represented by GhACT1, is expressed predominantly in fiber cells and was studied in detail. A 0.8-kb GhACT1 promoter sufficient to confirm its fiber-specific expression was identified. RNA interference of GhACT1 caused significant reduction of its mRNA and protein levels and disrupted the actin cytoskeleton network in fibers. No defined actin network was observed in these fibers and, consequently, fiber elongation was inhibited. Our results suggested that GhACT1 plays an important role in fiber elongation but not fiber initiation.     

Levels of Cytokinins in the Ovules of Cotton Mutants with Altered Fiber Development

Endogenous levels of cytokinin and abscisic acid (ABA) were determined in ovules of normal cotton (TM-1) and four fiber differentiation mutants (n2, Ligon lintless, H10, and Xu142) before and after flowering by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The fluctuation patterns of ABA levels in ovules of normal cotton and mutants were similar. At the fiber elongation stage, ABA content was low, and from 1 day after flowering, the ABA content decreased steadily. On the other hand, the peaks of isopentenyladenine and isopentenyladenosine in ovules of TM-1 were observed 1 day before flowering. The level of cytokinins decreased after flowering in TM-1, whereas in the mutants it increased steadily. These results indicate that endogenous ABA is probably not the main inhibitor for fiber elongation and that endogenous cytokinins likely play a dual role in fiber development. Before flowering, cytokinins function as one of the stimuli for the initiation of fibers, but after flowering, cytokinins inhibit fiber growth. Received February 18, 1997; accepted June 11, 1997