Abstract
BackgroundThe WOX (WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX) gene family encodes a class of transcription factors that are unique to green plants, where they are involved in regulating the development of plant tissues and organs by determining cell fate. Although the importance of the WOX gene is well known, there are few studies describing their functions in cotton.ResultsIn this study, 32 WOX genes were found in Gossypium hirsutum. Phylogenetic analysis showed that WOX proteins of cotton can be divided into three clades: the ancient, intermediate, and WUS clades. The number of WOX proteins in the WUS clade was greater than the sum of the proteins in the other two clades. Our analysis revealed that 20 GhWOX genes are distributed on 16 cotton chromosomes and that duplication events are likely to have contributed to the expansion of the GhWOX family. All GhWOX genes have introns, and each GhWOX protein contains multiple motifs. RNA-seq data and real-time PCR showed that GhWOX13 gene subfamily is specifically expressed at a high level in cotton fibers. We also identified putative GA, NAA, and BR response elements in the promoter regions of the GhWOX13 genes and GhWOX13 transcripts were significantly induced by GA, NAA, and BR.ConclusionsOur data provides a useful resource for future studies on the functional roles of cotton WOX genes and shows that the GhWOX13 genes may influence cotton fiber development. Our results also provide an approach for identifying and characterizing WOX protein genes in other species.
Highlights
The WOX (WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX) gene family encodes a class of transcription factors that are unique to green plants, where they are involved in regulating the development of plant tissues and organs by determining cell fate
Identification of WOX gene family proteins in Gossypium To identify WOX family members in Gossypium, 15 AtWOX protein sequences were used as queries for blast searching of the cotton genome database with the E-value cutoff of 0.001
We identified 32, 18, and 19 WOX protein coding genes in G. hirsutum, G. arboreum, and G. raimondii, respectively (Table 1)
Summary
The WOX (WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX) gene family encodes a class of transcription factors that are unique to green plants, where they are involved in regulating the development of plant tissues and organs by determining cell fate. The WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX (WOX) gene family, which encodes one of the largest groups of transcription factors (TFs), is unique to plants, and belongs to a subclade of the homeodomain (HD) superfamily that can form a conserved DNA-binding homeo-domain [1]. WOX3 has a highly conserved function during the recruitment of founder cells to form the lateral domains of vegetative and floral organs in Arabidopsis and maize. AtWOX4 is required for auxin-dependent procambium differentiation and/or maintenance, which shows that the WOX gene family influences the auxindependent regulation of lateral plant growth [15, 16]. OsWOX11 is involved in lateral root initiation, root hair formation, and responses to abiotic stresses [22, 23]
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