Abstract
Amino acid transporters (AATs) are a kind of membrane proteins that mediate the transport of amino acids across cell membranes in higher plants. The AAT proteins are involved in regulating plant cell growth and various developmental processes. However, the biological function of this gene family in cotton fiber development is not clear. In this study, 190, 190, 101, and 94 full-length AAT genes were identified from Gossypium hirsutum, G. barbadense, G. arboreum, and G. raimondii. A total of 575 AAT genes from the four cotton species were divided into two subfamilies and 12 clades based on phylogenetic analysis. The AAT genes in the four cotton species were distributed on all the chromosomes. All GhAAT genes contain multiple exons, and each GhAAT protein has multiple conserved motifs. Transcriptional profiling and RT qPCR analysis showed that four GhATT genes tend to express specifically at the fiber initiation stage. Eight genes tend to express specifically at the fiber elongation and maturity stage, and four genes tend to express specifically at the fiber initiation and elongation stages. Our results provide a solid basis for further elucidating the biological function of AAT genes related to cotton fiber development and offer valuable genetic resources for crop improvement in the future.
Highlights
Amino acids are essential in the growth and development of plants
We identified 190, 190, 101, and 94 full-length amino acid transporter (AAT) genes from G. hirsutum L., G. barbadense L., G. arboreum L., and G. raimondii L. respectively
All these results indicated that both segmental and tandem duplication played essential roles in the expansion of acid transporters (AATs) family proteins in G. hirsutum L., G. barbadense L., G. arboreum L., and G. raimondii L., while segmental duplication were predominantly present in four Gossipium species
Summary
Amino acids are essential in the growth and development of plants. Amino acids can be absorbed and utilized directly by plant roots and transported to root tips, flowers, growing leaves, fruits, and seeds through xylem and phloem to sustain plant growth and development. Amino acid transporters (AATs) are a kind of membrane proteins that mediate the transport of amino acids across the cell membrane in higher plants and play an indispensable role in all processes of plant growth and development. According to the sequence similarity of AAT proteins, the AAT family in plants mainly includes the amino acid polyamine choline transporter (APC) subfamily and the amino acid/auxin permease (AAAP) subfamily— known as the amino acid transporter (ATF) subfamily. The APC subfamily is divided into three groups, including cationic amino acid transporters (CATs), amino acid/choline transporters (ACTs), and polyamine H+ symporters (PHSs). The AAT family had been identified in various plants, the most detailed study of its function has been carried out in Arabidopsis thaliana
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