Abstract
BackgroundCotton fiber, a natural fiber widely used in the textile industry, is differentiated from single cell of ovule epidermis. A large number of genes are believed to be involved in fiber formation, but so far only a few fiber genes have been isolated and functionally characterized in this developmental process. The Kinesin13 subfamily was found to play key roles during cell division and cell elongation, and was considered to be involved in the regulation of cotton fiber development.ResultsThe full length of coding sequence of GhKIS13A1 was cloned using cDNA from cotton fiber for functional characterization. Expression pattern analysis showed that GhKIS13A1 maintained a lower expression level during cotton fiber development. Biochemical assay showed that GhKIS13A1 has microtubule binding activity and basal ATPase activity that can be activated significantly by the presence of microtubules. Overexpression of GhKIS13A1 in Arabidopsis reduced leaf trichomes and the percentage of three-branch trichomes, and increased two-branch and shriveled trichomes compared to wild-type. Additionally, the expression of GhKIS13A1 in the Arabidopsis Kinesin-13a-1 mutant rescued the defective trichome branching pattern of the mutant, making its overall trichome branching pattern back to normal.ConclusionsOur results suggested that GhKIS13A1 is functionally compatible with AtKinesin-13A regarding their role in regulating the number and branching pattern of leaf trichomes. Given the developmental similarities between cotton fibers and Arabidopsis trichomes, it is speculated that GhKIS13A1 may also be involved in the regulation of cotton fiber development.
Highlights
Cotton fiber, a natural fiber widely used in the textile industry, is differentiated from single cell of ovule epidermis
On the basis of expression pattern and biochemical characterization of GhKIS13A1, we showed that GhKIS13A1 influences the number and branching patterns of Arabidopsis leaf trichomes and is able to rescue the mutant phenotype of the Arabidopsis Kinesin-13a-1 mutant, suggesting that GhKIS13A1 may play an important role in cotton fiber development and is a potential candidate for improving cotton fiber quality by genetic engineering
Analysis of phylogenetic relationships In the genome database of Gossypium hirsutum, thirteen Kinesin13 proteins were identified by using the protein sequence of GhKIS13A1 as a probe
Summary
A natural fiber widely used in the textile industry, is differentiated from single cell of ovule epidermis. The Kinesin subfamily was found to play key roles during cell division and cell elongation, and was considered to be involved in the regulation of cotton fiber development. The development of cotton fiber consists of four overlapping stages: fiber initiation, cell elongation, secondary wall deposition and maturation [1]. GhKinesin-13A belonging to the Kinesin-13 subfamily was found to be located in the Golgi apparatus of cotton fiber based on immunofluorescent detection [19]. These studies suggested that Kinesin genes may play key roles in cotton fiber growth and developmental processes
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