Gibberellins (GAs) promote secondary cell wall (SCW) development in plants, but the underlying molecular mechanism is still to be elucidated. Here, we employed a new system, the first internode of cotton, and the virus-induced gene silencing method to address this problem. We found that knocking down major DELLA genes via VIGS phenocopied GA treatment and significantly enhanced SCW formation in the xylem and phloem of cotton stems. Cotton DELLA proteins were found to interact with a wide range of SCW-related NAC proteins, and virus-induced gene silencing of these NAC genes inhibited SCW development with downregulated biosynthesis and deposition of lignin. The findings indicated a framework for the GA regulation of SCW formation; that is, the interactions between DELLA and NAC proteins mediated GA signaling to regulate SCW formation in cotton stems.
Background: Asiatic cotton (Gossypium arboreum, genome A2) is one of diploid cotton species producing spinnable fibers. However, few studies on the genetic mechanism of key fiber traits of Asiatic cotton have been reported. Sequencing technology advancement and the release of Asiatic cotton genome made it possible to construct a high-density SNP genetic map and further untapped QTL detection.Results: The Asiatic cotton cultivars SXY No.1 and CSLZ were crossed to develop a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population with 189 lines. Whole genome resequencing technology was employed to construct a high-density genetic map that covered 1980.17 cM with an average distance of 0.61 cM between adjacent markers. Based on fiber quality and yield component trait data from three environments, a total of 177 QTL were identified for 8 key fiber traits explaining 5.0-37.4% of the phenotypic variance. Besides, 48 stable QTL, including 15 for upper quartile length (UQL), 18 for fiber fineness (FF), 1 for immature fiber content (IFC), 4 for fiber neps count (FNC), 3 for lint percentage (LP), 7 for seed index (SI), were detected in more than one environment.Conclusions: Using a RIL population and whole genome resequencing strategy, this study presented a high-density genetic map of G. arboreum and identified 48 stable QTL for 6 key fiber traits (UQL, FF, IFC, FNC, LP, SI). Our work laid solid foundation for subsequent fine mapping of QTL for key fiber traits and cloning of controlling genes.
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