Abstract
Fast and uniform seed germination is essential to stabilize crop yields in agricultural production. It is important to understand the genetic basis of seed germination for improving the vigor of crop seeds. However, little is known about the genetic basis of seed vigor in cotton. In this study, we evaluated four seed germination-related traits of a core collection consisting of 419 cotton accessions, and performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to explore important loci associated with seed vigor using 3.66 million high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The results showed that four traits, including germination potential, germination rate, germination index, and vigor index, exhibited broad variations and high correlations. A total of 92 significantly associated SNPs located within or near 723 genes were identified for these traits, of which 13 SNPs could be detected in multiple traits. Among these candidate genes, 294 genes were expressed at seed germination stage. Further function validation of the two genes of higher expression showed that Gh_A11G0176 encoding Hsp70-Hsp90 organizing protein negatively regulated Arabidopsis seed germination, while Gh_A09G1509 encoding glutathione transferase played a positive role in regulating tobacco seed germination and seedling growth. Furthermore, Gh_A09G1509 might promote seed germination and seedling establishment through regulating glutathione metabolism in the imbibitional seeds. Our findings provide unprecedented information for deciphering the genetic basis of seed germination and performing molecular breeding to improve field emergence through genomic selection in cotton.
Highlights
Cotton is an important fiber crop and a valuable oilseed crop
We identified candidate genes within 300-kb flanking significant-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) loci as putative candidates based on the decay of LD (Ma et al, 2021) and conducted gene annotation based on G. hirsutum TM-1 genome (Zhang et al, 2015)
We analyzed the phenotypic variation of seed germination relevant traits including Germination potential (GP), Germination rate (GRA), Germination index (GI), and Vigor index (VI)
Summary
Cotton is an important fiber crop and a valuable oilseed crop. Among the cultivated species, upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) has the largest cultivated areas and plays an essential part in daily life and global textile industry (Fang et al, 2017; Naoumkina et al, 2019). Seed germination is the beginning of the life cycle of seed plants, as well as an important link for high-yield and resistance breeding of cotton. GWAS for Cotton Seed Germination seed germination rate and uniformity, as well as seedling emergence and growth in the field. Seedling vigor may influence crop yield through both indirect and direct effects (Ellis, 1992; Foolad et al, 2007; Sun et al, 2007). In modern agricultural cultivation practice, rapid and uniform seed germination is the key factor to maximize crop yield potential. Seeds with high vigor germinate quickly and result in uniform and strong seedlings, which affect plant growth and development (Foolad et al, 2007). With the rapid application of mechanized cultivation and harvest, the quality and vitality of cotton seeds will be important to achieve precision sowing technology
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
