Abstract
The potassium transporter family HAK/KUP/KT is a large group of proteins that are important in plant potassium transport and plays a crucial role in plant growth and development, especially in economic crops. Although HAK/KUP/KT genes have been identified in many species, research on these genes in cotton is still quite rare. In this study, in total, 21, 24, 45, and 44 HAK/KUP/KT genes were identified in Gossypium arboreum, Gossypium raimondii, Gossypium hirsutum, and Gossypium barbadense, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these genes were divided into four clusters. The G. hirsutum gene promoters contained diverse cis-regulatory elements, such as drought-responsive elements, low temperature-responsive elements, and other elements. The RNA-seq data and qRT-PCR results showed that HAK/KUP/KT genes had different expression patterns in fiber development. The qRT-PCR results of drought and NaCl treatment indicated that HAK/KUP/KT genes might play important roles in abiotic stress responses. These results will provide molecular insights into potassium transporter research in cotton.
Highlights
Potassium is one of the essential nutrients for plant growth and development, and potassium is widely distributed in various tissues as the second most abundant cation in plants
Arabidopsis lines overexpressing GhKT2 were larger and showed greater K+ accumulation compared to the wild type (WT), and the net K+ influx rate of GhKT2-transgenic Arabidopsis lines in the root meristem zone was significantly greater than that of the WT (Wang et al, 2018). These findings showed that HAK/KUP/KT members might play an important role in cotton fiber development and responses to various stresses
We identified 45, 21, 44, and 24 HAK/KUP/KT genes in G. hirsutum, G. arboreum, G. barbadense, and G. raimondii, respectively
Summary
Potassium is one of the essential nutrients for plant growth and development, and potassium is widely distributed in various tissues as the second most abundant cation in plants. Potassium plays an important role in maintaining the cytosolic pH, cell turgor, cell elongation, enzyme activation, osmotic adjustment, some physiological processes and radiocesium toxicity reduction in soil (Cherel et al, 2014; Cherel and Gaillard, 2019; Ashraf et al, 2019). For K+ acquisition and distribution, plants have two K+ transport systems: K+ channels and K+ transporters. K+ channels allow plants to absorb K+ via a low-affinity K+ uptake mechanism at high [K+]ext (external K+ concentrations above 0.3 mM), while the K+ transporter is a high-affinity K+ uptake mechanism acting at low [K+]ext. Potassium transporters play an important role in K+ transport for plants undergoing K+ deficiency
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