Abstract
BackgroundCotton is the world’s largest and most important source of renewable natural fiber. BEL1-like homeodomain (BLH) genes are ubiquitous in plants and have been reported to contribute to plant development. However, there is no comprehensive characterization of this gene family in cotton. In this study, 32, 16, and 18 BLH genes were identified from the G. hirsutum, G. arboreum, and G. raimondii genome, respectively. In addition, we also studied the phylogenetic relationships, chromosomal location, gene structure, and gene expression patterns of the BLH genes.ResultsThe results indicated that these BLH proteins were divided into seven distinct groups by phylogenetic analysis. Among them, 25 members were assigned to 15 chromosomes. Furthermore, gene structure, chromosomal location, conserved motifs, and expression level of BLH genes were investigated in G. hirsutum. Expression profiles analysis showed that four genes (GhBLH1_3, GhBLH1_4, GhBLH1_5, and GhBLH1_6) from BLH1 subfamily were highly expressed during the fiber cell elongation period. The expression levels of these genes were significantly induced by gibberellic acid and brassinosteroid, but not auxin. Exogenous application of gibberellic acid significantly enhanced GhBLH1_3, GhBLH1_4, and GhBLH1_5 transcripts. Expression levels of GhBLH1_3 and GhBLH1_4 genes were significantly increased under brassinosteroid treatment.ConclusionsThe BLH gene family plays a very important role in many biological processes during plant growth and development. This study deepens our understanding of the role of the GhBLH1 gene involved in fiber development and will help us in breeding better cotton varieties in the future.
Highlights
Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is an important crop that is used for making lint and cotton seed oil
Genome-wide identification of the BEL1-like homeodomain (BLH) gene family in cotton To identify the BLH genes in G. hirsutum and G. arboreum and G. raimondii genomes, the BLH amino acid sequences from Arabidopsis were used as queries to perform a local BLAST search in cotton genome database
We identified 32, 16, and 18 BLH genes in G. hirsutum, G. arboreum, and G. raimondii genome, respectively (Table 1)
Summary
Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is an important crop that is used for making lint and cotton seed oil. BEL1-like homeobox (BLH) proteins are ubiquitous in plants and include four conserved domains: SKY, BELL, homeodomain, and VSLTLGL This gene family is known to heterodimerize with KNOTTED1-like homeobox (KNOX) transcription factors (TFs) to regulate transcription of target genes (Müller et al 2001; Chen et al 2003; Smith and Hake 2003; Bhatt et al 2004; Kanrar et al 2008; Lal et al 2011; Li et al 2012). In the genomes of Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Solanum tuberosum, Zea mays, and Glycine max, there are 13, 14, 14, 15, and 34 BLH genes, respectively (Arnayd and Pautot 2014; Mukherjee et al 2009; Sharma et al 2014; Meng et al 2018; Cao et al 2015; Tao et al 2018) Several members of this gene family were reported to contribute to developmental processes. We studied the phylogenetic relationships, chromosomal location, gene structure, and gene expression patterns of the BLH genes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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.
