Functional analysis of the cotton CLE polypeptide signaling gene family in plant growth and development

Abstract

The CLAVATA3 (CLV3)/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION (ESR)–RELATED (CLE) gene family encodes a large number of polypeptide signaling molecules involved in the regulation of shoot apical meristem division and root and vascular bundle development in a variety of plants. CLE family genes encode important short peptide hormones; however, the functions of these signaling polypeptides in cotton remain largely unknown. In the current work, we studied the effects of the CLE family genes on growth and development in cotton. Based on the presence of a conserved CLE motif of 13 amino acids, 93 genes were characterized as GhCLE gene family members, and these were subcategorized into 7 groups. A preliminary analysis of the cotton CLE gene family indicated that the activity of its members tends to be conserved in terms of both the 13-residue conserved domain at the C-terminus and their subcellular localization pattern. Among the 14 tested genes, the ectopic overexpression of GhCLE5::GFP partially mimicked the phenotype of the clv3 mutant in Arabidopsis. GhCLE5 could affect the endogenous CLV3 in binding to the receptor complex, comprised of CLV1, CLV2, and CRN, in the yeast two-hybrid assay and split-luciferase assay. Silencing GhCLE5 in cotton caused a short seedling phenotype. Therefore, we concluded that the cotton GhCLE gene family is functionally conserved in apical shoot development regulation. These results indicate that CLE also plays roles in cotton development as a short peptide hormone.

Shining in the dark: the big world of small peptides in plants

“… (Guo et al 2022 ; Liu et al 2021 ; Uzair et al 2021 ; Xu et al 2017b ) Conserved ( Arabidopsis , rice, etc.) CLEs Nucleus, plasma membrane CLV1, CLV2, CRN, RPK2 Shoot apical meristem size regulation, pollen tube growth, stress response (Clark et al 1995 ; Takahashi et al 2019 ; Wan et al 2021 ; Zhang et al 2021 ) Conserved ( Arabidopsis , rice, etc.) GASAs Extracellular – Plant growth and development, response to phytohormones, abiotic stresses, defense against pathogen (Almasia et al 2008 ; Conlan et al 2011 ; Ko et al 2007 ; Muhammad et al 2019 ; Pan et al 2019 ; Sun et al 2013 ; Wang et al 2009b ) -: Not identified …”

Establishing a Virus-Induced Gene Silencing System in Lycoris chinensis

“…For example, when weather cold-induced changes in non-coding gene expression had a significant effect on the cold tolerance of cotton seedlings, TRV2-CLA1 was used as a positive control to determine that silencing of lincRNA XH123 resulted in increased sensitivity to cold injury [41]. When studying the function of the CLE gene family in cotton, CLA was again used as a positive control, and it was found that the silencing of GhCLE5 in cotton resulted in dwarf seedlings [42]. Inhibition of GauGRAS1 by VIGS resulted in glandless stems and petioles of Gossypium australe compared with positive control TRV-CLA and negative control TRV empty vector [43].…”

Genome‐Wide Identification of CLE Gene Family and Function Analysis of SbCLE39 Under Salt Stress in Sorghum

“…The 12-peptide characteristic sequences of different subfamilies of CLE proteins are various, but the amino acids at some sites are still very conservative . At present, CLE gene families of many species have been identified and 26, 15, 93, 104, 116, 84 and 44 CLE genes were identified in cucumber, tomato, cotton, wheat, Brassica napus, soybean and common bean (Qin et al 2021;Zhang et al 2014;Wan et al 2021;Li et al 2019;Han et al 2020;Hastwell, Gresshoff, and Ferguson 2015). The number of CLE genes varies greatly among different species, indicating that CLE genes have undergone different evolutionary choices.…”