Natural variation in a CENTRORADIALIS homolog contributed to cluster fruiting and early maturity in cotton

Abstract

BackgroundPlant architecture and the vegetative-reproductive transition have major impacts on the agronomic success of crop plants, but genetic mechanisms underlying these traits in cotton (Gossypium spp.) have not been identified.ResultsWe identify four natural mutations in GoCEN-Dt associated with cluster fruiting (cl) and early maturity. The situ hybridization shows that GhCEN is preferentially expressed in cotton shoot apical meristems (SAM) of the main stem and axillary buds. Constitutive GhCEN-Dt overexpression suppresses the transition of the cotton vegetative apex to a reproductive shoot. Silencing GoCEN leads to early flowering and determinate growth, and in tetraploids causes the main stem to terminate in a floral bud, a novel phenotype that exemplifies co-adaptation of polyploid subgenomes and suggests new research and/or crop improvement approaches. Natural cl variations are enriched in cottons adapted to high latitudes with short frost-free periods, indicating that mutants of GoCEN have been strongly selected for early maturity.ConclusionWe show that the cotton gene GoCEN-Dt, a homolog of Antirrhinum CENTRORADIALIS, is responsible for determinate growth habit and cluster fruiting. Insight into the genetic control of branch and flower differentiation offers new approaches to develop early maturing cultivars of cotton and other crops with plant architecture appropriate for mechanical harvesting.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1518-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Revolutions in agriculture chart a course for targeted breeding of old and new crops

“…This concept follows the successful introduction of sp into Chinese cotton lines (Fig. 2), which are high performing and grown farther north than any functional SP cultivars (84). Another benefit of earlier flowering is evasion of early freezing temperatures at the end of short growing seasons or late-season drought, as has already been proposed for wheat (85).…”

The Current Progresses in the Genes and Networks Regulating Cotton Plant Architecture

“…This phenotype was found simultaneously by us and two other independent research groups to be due to mutations in a cotton ortholog of TFL1/SP/CEN . Although all three research groups identified the same gene, it was given different names by each ( Liu et al, 2018 ; Si et al, 2018 ; Chen et al, 2019 ). Because the amino acid sequence deduced from this gene has the highest similarity with the tomato SP protein, this paper describes it as the cotton SP gene ( McGarry et al, 2016 ; Si et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Overexpression of the GhSP gene in cotton inhibited flower bud growth, indicating that GhSP plays a key role in regulating flower bud differentiation and determinate growth ( Chen et al, 2019 ). In situ hybridization revealed that GhSP was preferentially expressed in the meristems of cotton main stems and axillary buds ( Liu et al, 2018 ). Overexpression of GhSP inhibited the transition from vegetative to reproductive branch formation ( Liu et al, 2018 ; Si et al, 2018 ).…”

“…In situ hybridization revealed that GhSP was preferentially expressed in the meristems of cotton main stems and axillary buds ( Liu et al, 2018 ). Overexpression of GhSP inhibited the transition from vegetative to reproductive branch formation ( Liu et al, 2018 ; Si et al, 2018 ). Conversely, the silencing of GhSP resulted in early flowering and determinate growth, with the production of terminal flowers on the main stem and shorter lateral branches ( McGarry et al, 2016 ; Liu et al, 2018 ).…”

High‐resolution temporal dynamic transcriptome landscape reveals a GhCAL‐mediated flowering regulatory pathway in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

“…Because of this complexity, no flowering‐related genes were isolated from cotton by map‐based cloning. So far, only a small number of genes have been cloned by reverse genetics and preliminarily verified that they may control flowering in cotton such as GhFPF1 (Wang et al ., 2014), GhSOC1 (Zhang et al ., 2016), GhCEN‐DT (Liu et al ., 2018) and GhAAI66 (Qanmber et al ., 2019). Flower bud differentiation is an important character influencing the early maturity of cotton varieties.…”