RETRACTED ARTICLE: Overexpression of a cotton annexin gene, GhAnn1, enhances drought and salt stress tolerance in transgenic cotton

Abstract

Plant annexins are members of a diverse, multigene protein family that has been associated with a variety of cellular processes and responses to abiotic stresses. GhAnn1, which encodes a putative annexin protein, was isolated from a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. acc 7235) cDNA library. Tissue-specific expression showed that GhAnn1 is expressed at differential levels in all tissues examined and strongly induced by various phytohormones and abiotic stress. In vivo and in vitro subcellular localization suggested that GhAnn1 is located in the plasma membrane. In response to drought and salt stress, transgenic cotton plants overexpressing GhAnn1 showed significantly higher germination rates, longer roots, and more vigorous growth than wild-type plants. In addition, plants overexpressing GhAnn1 had higher total chlorophyll content, lower lipid peroxidation levels, increased peroxidase activities, and higher levels of proline and soluble sugars, all of which contributed to increased salt and drought stress tolerance. However, transgenic cotton plants in which the expression of GhAnn1 was suppressed showed the opposite results compared to the overexpressing plants. These findings demonstrated that GhAnn1 plays an important role in the abiotic stress response, and that overexpression of GhAnn1 in transgenic cotton improves salt and drought tolerance.

A Cotton Annexin Affects Fiber Elongation and Secondary Cell Wall Biosynthesis Associated with Ca2+ Influx, ROS Homeostasis, and Actin Filament Reorganization

“…Recently, it was shown that GhCaM7 promotes early cotton fiber elongation by modulating ROS production (Tang et al, 2014b). Most importantly, it has been demonstrated that AnnAt1, AnnBj1, and GhAnn1 affect root growth associated with H 2 O 2 (Divya et al, 2010;Richards et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2015a). Consistent with these findings, we found that exogenous H 2 O 2 promotes fiber elongation at concentrations lower than 20 mM (Supplemental Fig.…”

“…Recently, annexins also were found to participate in cell elongation. Transgenic cotton seedlings overexpressing AnnBj1 and GhAnn1 both showed welldeveloped root systems with significantly enhanced root length under salt and drought stress (Divya et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2015a). AnnGh3, which is preferentially expressed in fibers, promotes the initiation and elongation of leaf trichomes (Li et al, 2013b).…”

Insights into Drought Stress Signaling in Plants and the Molecular Genetic Basis of Cotton Drought Tolerance

“…Transgenic cotton for drought tolerance has increased OA capability, relative water content, photosynthesis, and lower ion leakage percentage. The expression of mustard annexin gene (AnnBj1) was shown to increase stress tolerance in cotton with higher sucrose and proline contents [84,85], whereas overexpression of the cotton GhAnn1 annexin gene increased the action of SOD, proline, and soluble sugars for drought and salt tolerance [86].…”

Overexpression of ALDH21 from Syntrichia caninervis Moss in Upland Cotton Enhances Fiber Quality, Boll Component Traits, and Physiological Parameters during Deficit Irrigation

“…However, by far the greatest percentage of transgenic cotton is aimed at controlling insect pest damage in the form of the expression of various forms of insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (i.e., Bt cotton). Recently, several genes have been used to improve the drought tolerance of transgenic cotton, including AtLOS5, encoding a molybdenum cofactor sulfurase responsible for aldehyde oxidase activity; GhAnn1, an annexin gene; isopentenyl transferase (IPT), a rate-limiting enzyme for cytokinin biosynthesis; and 14-3-3 genes that regulate the activity of plasma membrane H + -ATPase (Yan et al, 2004;Yue et al, 2012;Kuppu et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2015). Transcription factor genes GhABF2 (a bZIP transcription factor), AtEDT1/HDG11 (homeodomain-START transcription factor), AtRAV (related to ABA insensitive3/viviparous1), rice (Oryza sativa L.) NAC (a transcription factor), and AtSAP5 (a zinc-finger protein) have been introduced into cotton to increase drought tolerance (Hozain et al, 2012;Liu et al, 2014;Mittal et al, 2015;Liang et al, 2016;Yu et al, 2016).…”