Abstract
BackgroundThe fiber yield and quality of cotton are greatly and periodically affected by water deficit. However, the molecular mechanism of the water deficit response in cotton fiber cells has not been fully elucidated.ResultsIn this study, water deficit caused a significant reduction in fiber length, strength, and elongation rate but a dramatic increase in micronaire value. To explore genome-wide transcriptional changes, fibers from cotton plants subjected to water deficit (WD) and normal irrigation (NI) during fiber development were analyzed by transcriptome sequencing. Analysis showed that 3427 mRNAs and 1021 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) from fibers were differentially expressed between WD and NI plants. The maximum number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and lncRNAs (DERs) was identified in fibers at the secondary cell wall biosynthesis stage, suggesting that this is a critical period in response to water deficit. Twelve genes in cotton fiber were differentially and persistently expressed at ≥ five time points, suggesting that these genes are involved in both fiber development and the water-deficit response and could potentially be used in breeding to improve cotton resistance to drought stress. A total of 540 DEGs were predicted to be potentially regulated by DERs by analysis of coexpression and genomic colocation, accounting for approximately 15.76% of all DEGs. Four DERs, potentially acting as target mimics for microRNAs (miRNAs), indirectly regulated their corresponding DEGs in response to water deficit.ConclusionsThis work provides a comprehensive transcriptome analysis of fiber cells and a set of protein-coding genes and lncRNAs implicated in the cotton response to water deficit, significantly affecting fiber quality during the fiber development stage.
Highlights
The fiber yield and quality of cotton are greatly and periodically affected by water deficit
The seed index (SI) of the water deficit (WD)-group was significantly lower than that of the normal irrigation (NI)-group (Fig. 1C), but there was no significant difference in lint weight (Fig. 1D) or lint index (LI) (Fig. 1E) between the two groups
These results indicated that water deficit affected cotton seed weight but did not significantly affect fiber weight
Summary
The fiber yield and quality of cotton are greatly and periodically affected by water deficit. The molecular mechanism of the water deficit response in cotton fiber cells has not been fully elucidated. Wu et al BMC Plant Biology (2022) 22:6 final fiber quality. Two transcription factors (TFs), GhHOX3 (homoeodomain-leucine zipper TF) and GhDEL65 (basic helix-loop-helix TF), positively regulate cotton fiber elongation [10, 11]. GhLTPG1 (glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchored lipid transport protein) is abundantly expressed in elongating cotton fibers, and knockdown of GhLTPG1 results in shorter fibers with the repression of FE-related gene expression [12]. Cotton fiber quality traits, including strength, micronaire, and maturity, are mostly determined at the stages of SCWB and maturation. The biology and genes involved in these two stages are much less understood and studied [13], with only MYB transcription factors reported [14, 15]
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