Genome-Wide Identification of the Early Flowering 4 (ELF4) Gene Family in Cotton and Silent GhELF4-1 and GhEFL3-6 Decreased Cotton Stress Resistance

Abstract

The early flowering 4 (ELF4) family members play multiple roles in the physiological development of plants. ELF4s participated in the plant biological clock’s regulation process, photoperiod, hypocotyl elongation, and flowering time. However, the function in the ELF4s gene is barely known. In this study, 11, 12, 21, and 22 ELF4 genes were identified from the genomes of Gossypium arboreum, Gossypium raimondii, Gossypium hirsutum, and Gossypium barbadense, respectively. There ELF4s genes were classified into four subfamilies, and members from the same subfamily show relatively conservative gene structures. The results of gene chromosome location and gene duplication revealed that segmental duplication promotes gene expansion, and the Ka/Ks indicated that the ELF4 gene family has undergone purification selection during long-term evolution. Spatio-temporal expression patterns and qRT-PCR showed that GhELF4 genes were mainly related to flower, leaf, and fiber development. Cis-acting elements analysis and qRT-PCR showed that GhELF4 genes might be involved in the regulation of abscisic acid (ABA) or light pathways. Silencing of GhELF4-1 and GhEFL3-6 significantly affected the height of cotton seedlings and reduced the resistance of cotton. The identification and functional analysis of ELF4 genes in upland cotton provide more candidate genes for genetic modification.

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of the CCT Gene Family in Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

“…BnaUnng01460D, annotated as an ELF4-like protein, has been reported to significantly affect the height and stress resistance of cotton seedlings when silenced [33]. The GhELF4 gene may be involved in ABA or light signaling pathways.…”

“…The majority of the annotated proteins play crucial roles in abiotic stress responses, with most interacting CCT genes concentrated in the PRR subfamily. While research on abiotic stress and hormone responses has predominantly focused on the COL and CMF subfamilies, there are limited reports on the PRR subfamily in B. napus regarding non-biological stress and hormone responses [19,[33][34][35][36][37]. Therefore, our study primarily focused on the PRR subfamily of the CCT genes in B. napus.…”

“…Notably, our protein interaction network analysis revealed that the highly interactive CCTs are primarily concentrated within the PRR subfamily. Given that previous research has predominantly focused on the COL and CMF subfamilies in non-biological stress response and hormone-related aspects [19,[33][34][35][36][37], and there exists a notable gap in the current scientific literature concerning the role of the PRR subfamily in various biological processes within B. napus, our study placed particular emphasis on the PRR subfamily of the CCT gene family in B. napus. Consequently, we utilized the BnIR [38] database to examine the expression levels of ten CCT genes in the PRR subfamily under various stress and hormone conditions (Table S9) and generated a comprehensive heatmap for visualization purposes (Figure 9).…”

Unravelling Abiotic Stress Physiology in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.): Biotechnological Interventions in Mitigating Abiotic Stress

“…In a recent study, the CRISPR/Cas system was efficiently used to generate knockout plants for the GhNAC3 gene [215]. The GhNAC3 gene encodes an NAC family transcription factor involved in drought stress tolerance through abscisic acid-related and independent pathways [216]. Mutant lines exhibited phenotypic variations, confirming the role of GhNAC3 in average growth and development, apart from drought stress tolerance.…”