Abstract
Cotton fibers are specialized single-cell trichomes derived from epidermal cells, similar to root hairs and trichomes in Arabidopsis. While the MYB-bHLH-WD40 (MBW) complex has been shown to regulate initiation of both root hairs and trichomes in Arabidopsis, the role of their homologous gene in cotton fiber initiation remains unknown. In this study, we identified a R2R3 MYB transcription factor (TF), GhWER, which exhibited a significant increase in expression within the outer integument of ovule at -1.5 DPA (days post anthesis). Its expression peaked at -1 DPA and then gradually decreased. Knockout of GhWER using CRISPR technology inhibited the initiation and early elongation of fiber initials, resulting in the shorter mature fiber length. Additionally, GhWER interacted with two bHLH TF, GhDEL65 and GhbHLH121, suggesting a potential regulatory complex for fiber development. RNA-seq analysis of the outer integument of the ovule at -1.5 DPA revealed that the signal transduction pathways of ethylene, auxin and gibberellin were affected in the GhWER knockout lines. Further examination demonstrated that GhWER directly activated ethylene signaling genes, including ACS1 and ETR2. These findings highlighted the biological function of GhWER in regulating cotton fiber initiation and early elongation, which has practical significance for improving fiber quality and yield.
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Data availability
The RNA-seq data have been deposited in the NCBI SRA database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/) with BioProject number PRJNA1064389. For any other data inquiries, interested parties can contact the corresponding authors and request access.
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This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (projects No. 32172071 to lilitu) and National Key R&D Program of China (projects No. 2022YFF1001400 to lilitu).
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L.T. conceived the project and designed the experiments. G.Z., W.L. contributed to the vector construction. W.L., L.S., M.X., M.S. and G.Z. performed the transgenic experiments and phenotype investigation. W.L., L.S., M.X. and G.Z. performed the RNA-seq and qRT-PCR. G.Z. performed the LUC assay. G.Z. and L.T. wrote the manuscript.
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Zhao, G., Li, W., Xu, M. et al. GhWER controls fiber initiation and early elongation by regulating ethylene signaling pathway in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). Mol Breeding 44, 38 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-024-01477-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-024-01477-6