A comprehensive analysis of cotton VQ gene superfamily reveals their potential and extensive roles in regulating cotton abiotic stress

Pengyun Chen,Lijiao Gu,Jianhua Lu,Hengling Wei,Liang Ma,Qiang Ma,Shuxun Yu,Shuaishuai Cheng,Hantao Wang,Guangzhi Mao,Fei Wei,Aimin Wu,Meng Zhang,Adeel Ahmad,Pengbo Hao

doi:10.1186/s12864-020-07171-z

Abstract

BackgroundValine-glutamine (VQ) motif-containing proteins play important roles in plant growth, development and abiotic stress response. For many plant species, the VQ genes have been identified and their functions have been described. However, little is known about the origin, evolution, and functions (and underlying mechanisms) of the VQ family genes in cotton.ResultsIn this study, we comprehensively analyzed the characteristics of 268 VQ genes from four Gossypium genomes and found that the VQ proteins evolved into 10 clades, and each clade had a similar structural and conservative motif. The expansion of the VQ gene was mainly through segmental duplication, followed by dispersal. Expression analysis revealed that many GhVQs might play important roles in response to salt and drought stress, and GhVQ18 and GhVQ84 were highly expressed under PEG and salt stress. Further analysis showed that GhVQs were co-expressed with GhWRKY transcription factors (TFs), and microRNAs (miRNAs) could hybridize to their cis-regulatory elements.ConclusionsThe results in this study broaden our understanding of the VQ gene family in plants, and the analysis of the structure, conserved elements, and expression patterns of the VQs provide a solid foundation for exploring their specific functions in cotton responding to abiotic stresses. Our study provides significant insight into the potential functions of VQ genes in cotton.

Highlights

Valine-glutamine (VQ) motif-containing proteins play important roles in plant growth, development and abiotic stress response
Identification and comparative analysis of VQs in plants To identify VQ family in G. hirsutum, G. barbadense, G. raimondii and G. arboretum, the AtVQ proteins were used as query sequences to search against the protein databases of the four Gossypium species, and the VQdomain Pfam (PF05678) was applied
We speculated that the wholegenome duplication (WGD) events that occurred during the evolution of angiosperms increased the numbers of the Gossypium VQs, and these events helped the VQs to gain new functions through neofunctionalization

Summary

Introduction

Valine-glutamine (VQ) motif-containing proteins play important roles in plant growth, development and abiotic stress response. The VQ genes have been identified and their functions have been described. The VQ genes form a large gene family with important roles in growth, development and abiotic stress tolerance in plants [1,2,3]. JASMONATE-ASSOCIATED VQ MOTIF GENE1 (JAV1/AtVQ22) has been addressed to be as a key negative regulator of the jasmonate signalling [8]. OsVQ7 interacts with OsWRKY24 and play roles in NO signaling contributing to the tolerance of various stresses and development in rice (Oryza sativa) [11]

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