Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers linked to the Ligon lintless (Li(1)) mutant in cotton

A DNA Extraction Method for Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation of Cotton Seeds (Gossypium L.)

Kernels of cotton provide lint and linter for textiles, oil and protein for food and feed. Cotton seed is formed following fertilization between an ovule and a pollen grain. The seed coat is maternal in origin, whereas the embryo and attached cotyledonary leaves are hybrids of parental lines. The extraction of genomic DNA from an ungerminated whole, a portion or mixed seeds are prerequisite in genetic and genomic studies of cotton. As far as our knowledge, there is only one method of nondescriptive DNA extraction from ungerminated cotton seeds without affecting the seed germination capability, but it has technical difficulties and requires special equipment. Furthermore, the amount of DNA extracted using the published method is low and, therefore, it is only suitable for routine marker assisted selection studies. In this study, a DNA extraction protocol referred to as the CTAB-LiCl was developed for single whole cotton seed, a portion of cotton seed and bulked cotton seeds. This protocol uses a combination of CTAB and LiCl to lyse cells and deplete RNAs simultaneously. The CTAB-LiCl DNA extraction method was evaluated in ninety-six individuals of six different cotton cultivars along with two genetic standards of cotton, TM-1 (G. hirsutum L.), Pima 3-79 (G. barbadense L.), and several other plant species of different plant genera. Results revealed that this method produced high quality and amounts of DNA as confirmed by spectrophotometry, agarose gel, restriction enzyme digestion, polymerase chain reaction, and library production for next generation sequencing studies of whole genome bisulfite sequencing. It does not require the use of liquid nitrogen, RNase, proteinase K, or beta-mercaptoethanol and can be completed in approximately 2 h. Small tissues of the chalaza ends of ungerminated cotton seeds could be used to obtain high quality and quantity of DNA ranging from 14 to 28 µg without affecting the seeds' germination ability, allowing marker-assisted selection before planting and flowering.

Systematically and Comprehensively Understanding the Regulation of Cotton Fiber Initiation: A Review

Cotton fibers provide an important source of raw materials for the textile industry worldwide. Cotton fiber is a kind of single cell that differentiates from the epidermis of the ovule and provides a perfect research model for the differentiation and elongation of plant cells. Cotton fiber initiation is the first stage throughout the entire developmental process. The number of fiber cell initials on the seed ovule epidermis decides the final fiber yield. Thus, it is of great significance to clarify the mechanism underlying cotton fiber initiation. Fiber cell initiation is controlled by complex and interrelated regulatory networks. Plant phytohormones, transcription factors, sugar signals, small signal molecules, functional genes, non-coding RNAs, and histone modification play important roles during this process. Here, we not only summarize the different kinds of factors involved in fiber cell initiation but also discuss the mechanisms of these factors that act together to regulate cotton fiber initiation. Our aim is to synthesize a systematic and comprehensive review of different factors during fiber initiation that will provide the basics for further illustrating these mechanisms and offer theoretical guidance for improving fiber yield in future molecular breeding work.

A Modified Actin (Gly65Val Substitution) Expressed in Cotton Disrupts Polymerization of Actin Filaments Leading to the Phenotype of Ligon Lintless-1 (Li1) Mutant

Dynamic remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton plays a central role in the elongation of cotton fibers, which are the most important natural fibers in the global textile industry. Here, a high-resolution mapping approach combined with comparative sequencing and a transgenic method revealed that a G65V substitution in the cotton actin Gh_D04G0865 (GhACT17D in the wild-type) is responsible for the Gossypium hirsutum Ligon lintless-1 (Li₁) mutant (GhACT17DM). In the mutant GhACT17DM from Li₁ plant, Gly65 is substituted with valine on the lip of the nucleotide-binding domain of GhACT17D, which probably affects the polymerization of F-actin. Over-expression of GhACT17DM, but not GhACT17D, driven by either a CaMV35 promoter or a fiber-specific promoter in cotton produced a Li₁-like phenotype. Compared with the wild-type control, actin filaments in Li₁ fibers showed higher growth and shrinkage rates, decreased filament skewness and parallelness, and increased filament density. Taken together, our results indicate that the incorporation of GhACT17DM during actin polymerization disrupts the establishment and dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton, resulting in defective fiber elongation and the overall dwarf and twisted phenotype of the Li₁ mutant.

G65V Substitution in Actin Disturbs Polymerization Leading to Inhibited Cell Elongation in Cotton

The importance of the actin cytoskeleton for proper cell development has been well established in a variety of organisms. Actin protein sequences are highly conserved, and each amino acid residue may be essential for its function. In this study, we report the isolation and characterization of GhLi ₁ from an upland cotton mutant Ligon lintless-1 (Li₁), which harbors the G65V substitution in its encoded actin protein. Li₁ mutants exhibit pleiotropic malformed phenotypes, including dwarf plants, distorted organs, and extremely shortened fibers. Cytological analysis showed that the actin cytoskeleton was disorganized and the abundance of F-actin was decreased in the Li₁ cells. Vesicles were aggregated into patches, and excessive cellulose synthase complexes were inserted into the plasma membrane during the secondary cell wall biosynthesis stage, which dramatically affected the morphology of the Li₁ cells. Molecular model prediction suggested that the G65V substitution may affect the three-bodied G-actin interaction during F-actin assembly. Biochemical assays demonstrated that the recombinant GhLi₁ protein disturbs actin dynamics by inhibiting the nucleation and elongation processes. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that the G65V substitution in actin had dominant-negative effects on cell elongation, by disturbing actin polymerization and actin cytoskeleton-based biological processes such as intracellular transportation.

Long non-coding RNAs and their potential functions in Ligon-lintless-1 mutant cotton during fiber development

Background

Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) are part of genes, which are not translated into proteins and play a vital role in plant growth and development. Nevertheless, the presence of LncRNAs and how they functions in Ligon-lintless-1 mutant during the early cessation of cotton fiber development are still not well understood. In order to investigate the function of LncRNAs in cotton fiber development, it is necessary and important to identify LncRNAs and their potential roles in fiber cell development.

Results

In this work, we identified 18,333 LncRNAs, with the proportion of long intergenic noncoding RNAs (LincRNAs) (91.5%) and anti-sense LncRNAs (8.5%), all transcribed from Ligon-lintless-1 (Li1) and wild-type (WT). Expression differences were detected between Ligon-lintless-1 and wild-type at 0 and 8 DPA (day post anthesis). Pathway analysis and Gene Ontology based on differentially expressed LncRNAs on target genes, indicated fatty acid biosynthesis and fatty acid elongation being integral to lack of fiber in mutant cotton. The result of RNA-seq and RT-qPCR clearly singles out two potential LncRNAs, LNC_001237 and LNC_017085, to be highly down-regulated in the mutant cotton. The two LncRNAs were found to be destabilized or repressed by ghr-miR2950. Both RNA-seq analysis and RT-qPCR results in Ligon-lintless-1 mutant and wild-type may provide strong evidence of LNC_001237, LNC_017085 and ghr-miR2950 being integral molecular elements participating in various pathways of cotton fiber development.

Conclusion

The results of this study provide fundamental evidence for the better understanding of LncRNAs regulatory role in the molecular pathways governing cotton fiber development. Further research on designing and transforming LncRNAs will help not only in the understanding of their functions but will also in the improvement of fiber quality.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-019-5978-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A Gly65Val substitution in an actin, GhACT_LI1, disrupts cell polarity and F-actin organization resulting in dwarf, lintless cotton plants

Actin polymerizes to form part of the cytoskeleton and organize polar growth in all eukaryotic cells. Species with numerous actin genes are especially useful for the dissection of actin molecular function due to redundancy and neofunctionalization. Here, we investigated the role of a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) actin gene in the organization of actin filaments in lobed cotyledon pavement cells and the highly elongated single-celled trichomes that comprise cotton lint fibers. Using mapping-by-sequencing, virus-induced gene silencing, and molecular modeling, we identified the causative mutation of the dominant dwarf Ligon lintless Li₁ short fiber mutant as a single Gly65Val amino acid substitution in a polymerization domain of an actin gene, GhACT_LI1 (Gh_D04G0865). We observed altered cell morphology and disrupted organization of F-actin in Li₁ plant cells by confocal microscopy. Mutant leaf cells lacked interdigitation of lobes and F-actin did not uniformly decorate the nuclear envelope. While wild-type lint fiber trichome cells contained long longitudinal actin cables, the short Li₁ fiber cells accumulated disoriented transverse cables. The polymerization-defective Gly65Val allele in Li₁ plants likely disrupts processive elongation of F-actin, resulting in a disorganized cytoskeleton and reduced cell polarity, which likely accounts for the dominant gene action and diverse pleiotropic effects associated with the Li₁ mutation. Lastly, we propose a model to account for these effects, and underscore the roles of actin organization in determining plant cell polarity, shape and plant growth.

Small RNA sequencing and degradome analysis of developing fibers of short fiber mutants Ligon-lintles-1 (Li 1 ) and -2 (Li 2 ) revealed a role for miRNAs and their targets in cotton fiber elongation

BACKGROUND

The length of cotton fiber is an important agronomic trait that directly affects the quality of yarn and fabric. Understanding the molecular basis of fiber elongation would provide a means for improvement of fiber length. Ligon-lintless-1 (Li 1 ) and -2 (Li 2 ) are monogenic and dominant mutations that result in an extreme reduction in the length of lint fiber on mature seeds. In a near-isogenic state with wild type cotton these two short fiber mutants provide an effective model system to study the mechanisms of fiber elongation. Plant miRNAs regulate many aspects of growth and development. However, the mechanism underlying the miRNA-mediated regulation of fiber development is largely unknown.

RESULTS

Small RNA libraries constructed from developing fiber cells of the short fiber mutants Li 1 and Li 2 and their near-isogenic wild type lines were sequenced. We identified 24 conservative and 147 novel miRNA families with targets that were detected through degradome sequencing. The distribution of the target genes into functional categories revealed the largest set of genes were transcription factors. Expression profiles of 20 miRNAs were examined across a fiber developmental time course in wild type and short fiber mutations. We conducted correlation analysis between miRNA transcript abundance and the length of fiber for 11 diverse Upland cotton lines. The expression patterns of 4 miRNAs revealed significant negative correlation with fiber lengths of 11 cotton lines.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggested that the mutations have changed the regulation of miRNAs expression during fiber development. Further investigations of differentially expressed miRNAs in the Li 1 and Li 2 mutants will contribute to better understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of cotton fiber development. Four miRNAs negatively correlated with fiber length are good candidates for further investigations of miRNA regulation of important genotype dependent fiber traits. Thus, our results will contribute to further studies on the role of miRNAs in cotton fiber development and will provide a tool for fiber improvement through molecular breeding.

Transcriptome Analysis of Short Fiber Mutant Ligon lintless-1 (Li1) Reveals Critical Genes and Key Pathways in Cotton Fiber Elongation and Leaf Development

For efficient spinning and superior fabric production, long fiber length is a desired trait for cotton production. To unveil the molecular basis of the cotton fiber length regulation, a short fiber mutant, Ligon lintless-1 (Li₁), is selected to compare with its corresponding wild type (WT). Li₁ is a monogenic dominant cotton mutant causing extremely short fibers (<6mm) on mature seeds with visible pleiotropic effects on vegetative growth and development. In this research, we compared the transcriptome of fiber bearing ovules at 1 DPA, 3 DPA, 8 DPA and leaf between Li₁ mutant and WT. A total of 7,852 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in ovules and leaves, which mainly participated in sugar, secondary metabolite and lipid metabolism pathways based on KEGG analysis. The common DEGs at 1 DPA and 3 DPA were involved in the responses to endogenous stimulus, signal transduction and long-chain fatty acid biosynthesis. For 3 DPA, 8 DPA and leaf, the common DEGs were involved in the responses to auxin and receptor kinases related pathway. Further analysis showed that 37 genes involved in very-long-chain fatty acid biosynthesis were suppressed in Li₁ mutant during fiber fast elongation development. Most of the DEGs involved in cell wall metabolism, such cellulose synthase, expansin family, and glycosyl hydrolase were differentially expressed at 3 DPA and 8 DPA. Our results provide new insights into the mechanisms of fiber elongation, and offer novel genes as potential objects for fiber length improvement.

Mapping-by-sequencing of Ligon-lintless-1 (Li 1 ) reveals a cluster of neighboring genes with correlated expression in developing fibers of Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Mapping-by-sequencing and SNP marker analysis were used to fine map the Ligon-lintless-1 ( Li 1 ) short fiber mutation in tetraploid cotton to a 255-kb region that contains 16 annotated proteins. The Ligon-lintless-1 (Li 1 ) mutant of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) has been studied as a model for cotton fiber development since its identification in 1929; however, the causative mutation has not been identified yet. Here we report the fine genetic mapping of the mutation to a 255-kb region that contains only 16 annotated genes in the reference Gossypium raimondii genome. We took advantage of the incompletely dominant dwarf vegetative phenotype to identify 100 mutants (Li 1 /Li 1 ) and 100 wild-type (li 1 /li 1 ) homozygotes from a mapping population of 2567 F2 plants, which we bulked and deep sequenced. Since only homozygotes were sequenced, we were able to use a high stringency in SNP calling to rapidly narrow down the region harboring the Li 1 locus, and designed subgenome-specific SNP markers to test the population. We characterized the expression of all sixteen genes in the region by RNA sequencing of elongating fibers and by RT-qPCR at seven time points spanning fiber development. One of the most highly expressed genes found in this interval in wild-type fiber cells is 40-fold under-expressed at the day of anthesis (DOA) in the mutant fiber cells.  This gene is a major facilitator superfamily protein, part of the large family of proteins that includes auxin and sugar transporters. Interestingly, nearly all genes in this region were most highly expressed at DOA and showed a high degree of co-expression. Further characterization is required to determine if transport of hormones or carbohydrates is involved in both the dwarf and lintless phenotypes of Li 1 plants.

SNP Assay Development for Linkage Map Construction, Anchoring Whole-Genome Sequence, and Other Genetic and Genomic Applications in Common Bean

A total of 992,682 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was identified as ideal for Illumina Infinium II BeadChip design after sequencing a diverse set of 17 common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L) varieties with the aid of next-generation sequencing technology. From these, two BeadChips each with >5000 SNPs were designed. The BARCBean6K_1 BeadChip was selected for the purpose of optimizing polymorphism among market classes and, when possible, SNPs were targeted to sequence scaffolds in the Phaseolus vulgaris 14× genome assembly with sequence lengths >10 kb. The BARCBean6K_2 BeadChip was designed with the objective of anchoring additional scaffolds and to facilitate orientation of large scaffolds. Analysis of 267 F2 plants from a cross of varieties Stampede × Red Hawk with the two BeadChips resulted in linkage maps with a total of 7040 markers including 7015 SNPs. With the linkage map, a total of 432.3 Mb of sequence from 2766 scaffolds was anchored to create the Phaseolus vulgaris v1.0 assembly, which accounted for approximately 89% of the 487 Mb of available sequence scaffolds of the Phaseolus vulgaris v0.9 assembly. A core set of 6000 SNPs (BARCBean6K_3 BeadChip) with high genotyping quality and polymorphism was selected based on the genotyping of 365 dry bean and 134 snap bean accessions with the BARCBean6K_1 and BARCBean6K_2 BeadChips. The BARCBean6K_3 BeadChip is a useful tool for genetics and genomics research and it is widely used by breeders and geneticists in the United States and abroad.

Genetic fine mapping and candidate gene analysis of the Gossypium hirsutum Ligon lintless-1 (Li1) mutant on chromosome 22(D)

Ligon lintless-1 (Li1) is a Gossypium hirsutum mutant that is controlled by a dominant gene that arrests the development of cotton fiber after anthesis. Two F2 mapping populations were developed from mutant (Li1 × H7124) F1 plants in 2012 and 2013; each was composed of 142 and 1024 plants, respectively. Using these populations, Li1 was mapped to a 0.3-cM region in which nine single-strand conformation polymorphism markers co-segregated with the Li1 locus. In the published G. raimondii genome, these markers were mapped to a region of about 1.2 Mb (the Li1 region) and were separated by markers that flanked the Li1 locus in the genetic map, dividing the Li1 region into three segments. Thirty-six genes were annotated by the gene prediction software FGENESH (Softberry) in the Li1 region. Twelve genes were candidates of Li1, while the remaining 24 genes were identified as transposable elements, DNA/RNA polymerase superfamily or unknown function genes. Among the 12 candidate genes, those encoding ribosomal protein s10, actin protein, ATP synthase, and beta-tubulin 5 were the most-promising candidates of the Li1 mutant because the function of these genes is closely related to fiber development. High-throughput RNA sequencing and quantitative PCR revealed that these candidate genes had obvious differential gene expression between mutant and wild-type plants at the fiber elongation stage, strengthening the inference that they could be the most likely candidate gene of the Li1 mutant phenotype.

RNA-seq analysis of short fiber mutants Ligon-lintless-1 (Li 1 ) and - 2 (Li 2 ) revealed important role of aquaporins in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fiber elongation

BACKGROUND

Cotton fiber length is a key determinant of fiber quality for the textile industry. Understanding the molecular basis of fiber elongation would provide a means for improvement of fiber length. Ligon lintless-1 (Li 1 ) and Ligon lintless-2 (Li 2 ) are monogenic and dominant mutations, that result in an extreme reduction in the length of lint fiber to approximately 6 mm on mature seeds. In a near-isogenic state with wild type (WT) cotton these two short fiber mutants provide an excellent model system to study mechanisms of fiber elongation.

RESULTS

We used next generation sequencing (RNA-seq) to identify common fiber elongation related genes in developing fibers of Li 1 and Li 2 mutants growing in the field and a greenhouse. We found a large number of differentially expressed genes common to both mutants, including 531 up-regulated genes and 652 down-regulated genes. Major intrinsic proteins or aquaporins were one of the most significantly over-represented gene families among common down-regulated genes in Li 1 and Li 2 fibers. The members of three subfamilies of aquaporins, including plasma membrane intrinsic proteins, tonoplast intrinsic proteins and NOD26-like intrinsic proteins were down-regulated in short fiber mutants. The osmotic concentration and the concentrations of soluble sugars were lower in fiber cells of both short fiber mutants than in WT, whereas the concentrations of K+ and malic acid were significantly higher in mutants during rapid cell elongation.

CONCLUSIONS

We found that the aquaporins were the most down-regulated gene family in both short fiber mutants. The osmolality and concentrations of soluble sugars were less in saps of Li 1 - Li 2 , whereas the concentrations of malic acid, K+ and other detected ions were significantly higher in saps of mutants than in WT. These results suggest that higher accumulation of ions in fiber cells, reduced osmotic pressure and low expression of aquaporins, may contribute to the cessation of fiber elongation in Li 1 and Li 2 short-fiber mutants. The research presented here provides new insights into osmoregulation of short fiber mutants and the role of aquaporins in cotton fiber elongation.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of short fiber mutants Ligon-lintless 1 and 2 reveals common mechanisms pertinent to fiber elongation in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Understanding the molecular processes affecting cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fiber development is important for developing tools aimed at improving fiber quality. Short fiber cotton mutants Ligon-lintless 1 (Li₁) and Ligon-lintless 2 (Li₂) are naturally occurring, monogenic mutations residing on different chromosomes. Both mutations cause early cessation in fiber elongation. These two mutants serve as excellent model systems to elucidate molecular mechanisms relevant to fiber length development. Previous studies of these mutants using transcriptome analysis by our laboratory and others had been limited by the fact that very large numbers of genes showed altered expression patterns in the mutants, making a targeted analysis difficult or impossible. In this research, a comparative microarray analysis was conducted using these two short fiber mutants and their near isogenic wild type (WT) grown under both field and greenhouse environments in order to identify key genes or metabolic pathways common to fiber elongation. Analyses of three transcriptome profiles obtained from different growth conditions and mutant types showed that most differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were affected by growth conditions. Under field conditions, short fiber mutants commanded higher expression of genes related to energy production, manifested by the increasing of mitochondrial electron transport activity or responding to reactive oxygen species when compared to the WT. Eighty-eight DEGs were identified to have altered expression patterns common to both short fiber mutants regardless of growth conditions. Enrichment, pathway and expression analyses suggested that these 88 genes were likely involved in fiber elongation without being affected by growth conditions.

Gene expression profile analysis of Ligon lintless-1 (Li1) mutant reveals important genes and pathways in cotton leaf and fiber development

Ligon lintless-1 (Li1) is a monogenic dominant mutant of Gossypium hirsutum (upland cotton) with a phenotype of impaired vegetative growth and short lint fibers. Despite years of research involving genetic mapping and gene expression profile analysis of Li1 mutant ovule tissues, the gene remains uncloned and the underlying pathway of cotton fiber elongation is still unclear. In this study, we report the whole genome-level deep-sequencing analysis of leaf tissues of the Li1 mutant. Differentially expressed genes in leaf tissues of mutant versus wild-type (WT) plants are identified, and the underlying pathways and potential genes that control leaf and fiber development are inferred. The results show that transcription factors AS2, YABBY5, and KANDI-like are significantly differentially expressed in mutant tissues compared with WT ones. Interestingly, several fiber development-related genes are found in the downregulated gene list of the mutant leaf transcriptome. These genes include heat shock protein family, cytoskeleton arrangement, cell wall synthesis, energy, H2O2 metabolism-related genes, and WRKY transcription factors. This finding suggests that the genes are involved in leaf morphology determination and fiber elongation. The expression data are also compared with the previously published microarray data of Li1 ovule tissues. Comparative analysis of the ovule transcriptomes of Li1 and WT reveals that a number of pathways important for fiber elongation are enriched in the downregulated gene list at different fiber development stages (0, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18dpa). Differentially expressed genes identified in both leaf and fiber samples are aligned with cotton whole genome sequences and combined with the genetic fine mapping results to identify a list of candidate genes for Li1.

A transcript profiling approach reveals an abscisic acid-specific glycosyltransferase (UGT73C14) induced in developing fiber of Ligon lintless-2 mutant of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Ligon lintless-2, a monogenic dominant cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fiber mutation, causing extreme reduction in lint fiber length with no pleiotropic effects on vegetative growth, represents an excellent model system to study fiber elongation. A UDP-glycosyltransferase that was highly expressed in developing fibers of the mutant Ligon lintless-2 was isolated. The predicted amino acid sequence showed ~53% similarity with Arabidopsis UGT73C sub-family members and the UDP-glycosyltransferase was designated as UGT73C14. When expressed in Escherichia coli as a recombinant protein with a maltose binding protein tag, UGT73C14 displayed enzymatic activity toward ABA and utilized UDP-glucose and UDP-galactose as the sugar donors. The recombinant UGT73C14 converted natural occurring isoform (+)-cis, trans-ABA better than (+)-trans, trans-ABA and (-)-cis, trans-ABA. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants constitutively overexpressing UGT73C14 did not show phenotypic changes under standard growth conditions. However, the increased glycosylation of ABA resulted in phenotypic changes in post-germinative growth and seedling establishment, confirming in vivo activity of UGT73C14 for ABA. This suggests that the expression level of UGT73C14 is regulated by the observed elevated levels of ABA in developing fibers of the Li₂ mutant line and may be involved in the regulation of ABA homeostasis.

Transcript profiling by microarray and marker analysis of the short cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fiber mutant Ligon lintless-1 (Li1)

Background

Cotton fiber length is very important to the quality of textiles. Understanding the genetics and physiology of cotton fiber elongation can provide valuable tools to the cotton industry by targeting genes or other molecules responsible for fiber elongation. Ligon Lintless-1 (Li₁) is a monogenic mutant in Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) which exhibits an early cessation of fiber elongation resulting in very short fibers (< 6 mm) at maturity. This presents an excellent model system for studying the underlying molecular and cellular processes involved with cotton fiber elongation. Previous reports have characterized Li₁ at early cell wall elongation and during later secondary cell wall synthesis, however there has been very limited analysis of the transition period between these developmental time points.

Results

Physical and morphological measurements of the Li₁ mutant fibers were conducted, including measurement of the cellulose content during development. Affymetrix microarrays were used to analyze transcript profiles at the critical developmental time points of 3 days post anthesis (DPA), the late elongation stage of 12 DPA and the early secondary cell wall synthesis stage of 16 DPA. The results indicated severe disruption to key hormonal and other pathways related to fiber development, especially pertaining to the transition stage from elongation to secondary cell wall synthesis. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis identified several key pathways at the transition stage that exhibited altered regulation. Genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis and primary cell wall rearrangement were affected, and a primary cell wall-related cellulose synthase was transcriptionally repressed. Linkage mapping using a population of 2,553 F₂ individuals identified SSR markers associated with the Li₁ genetic locus on chromosome 22. Linkage mapping in combination with utilizing the diploid G. raimondii genome sequences permitted additional analysis of the region containing the Li₁ gene.

Conclusions

The early termination of fiber elongation in the Li₁ mutant is likely controlled by an early upstream regulatory factor resulting in the altered regulation of hundreds of downstream genes. Several elongation-related genes that exhibited altered expression profiles in the Li₁ mutant were identified. Molecular markers closely associated with the Li₁ locus were developed. Results presented here will lay the foundation for further investigation of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of fiber elongation.

Cross-genera transferable e-microsatellite markers for 12 genera of the Lamiaceae family

BACKGROUND

The Lamiaceae family contains many high-valued medicinal, aromatic and ornamental plant species. Several members of the genera in this family are under heavy pressure of collection for commercial use. DNA markers such as microsatellites could be used to identify commercially important genotypes and to select high-yielding ones for development of new varieties.

RESULTS

A total of 12,432 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from Salvia fruticosa, S. miltiorrhiza, S. sclarea and Stenogyne rugosa were analyzed. A total of 6216 ESTs were found to be unique according the redundancy test used. Results of this study indicated that the use of redundant ESTs in comparison to non-redundant ESTs was advantageous in terms of higher cross-genera transferability of the markers. A total of 75 EST-microsatellite primer pairs were tested using two different polymerase chain reaction amplification profiles and 52 were found to be cross-genera transferable. Cross-genera transferability of the e-microsatellite primer pairs varied from one species to 12 species tested. It was noted that cross-genera transferability of e-microsatellite primer pairs decreased as the evolutionary distance between the sources and target species increased.

CONCLUSION

This study indicated that EST resources from Salvia spp. and Stenogyne rugosa could be successfully used to identify cross-genera transferable e-microsatellite markers for uncharacterized genomes of the genera in the Lamiaceae family. These e-microsatellite markers could allow one to perform comparative analyses of population structure and genomic studies, and facilitate comparative linkage mapping in the genera studied. E-microsatellite primer pairs reported in this manuscript are equivalent to a total of 135 e-microsatellite primer pairs since many e-microsatellite primer pairs show cross-genera transferability.

Discovery and identification of a novel Ligon lintless-like mutant (Lix) similar to the Ligon lintless (Li1) in allotetraploid cotton

Mutants are a powerful resource for studying gene structure, function, and evolution. In this present study, a novel Ligon lintless-like mutant (Lix), that has short fibers and deformed leaves and stems, was isolated from the progeny of transgenic cottons. The Lix mutant is similar in morphology to the Ligon lintless (Li1) mutant. Genetic analysis and molecular mapping were performed for the Lix and Li1 mutants. These two mutants are monogenic dominant mutants with distorted growth of vegetative and reproductive structures. Seedlings of the dominant homozygote Li 1 Li 1 genotype are lethal, while LixLix plants are viable but show no reproductive growth. Molecular tagging showed that the Lix gene is located on Chr. 04 in a 30.9-cM region spanned by NAU8376 and NAU3469. In a previous study, the Li 1 gene was mapped to Chr. 22, and Chr. 04 and Chr. 22 are homoelogous chromosomes in tetraploid cotton. So, we propose that Lix and Li1 mutants have similar mutated morphology, and Lix is mapped to a homoelogous chromosome carrying Li 1 . The identification and genetic mapping of Lix/Li 1 genes using mutants provides a foundation for isolating these genes. In turn, this will permit studies to elucidate the functional and evolutionary roles for these genes in cotton growth and development.

Integrated metabolomics and genomics analysis provides new insights into the fiber elongation process in Ligon lintless-2 mutant cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

BACKGROUND

The length of cotton fiber is an important agronomic trait characteristic that directly affects the quality of yarn and fabric. The cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fiber mutation, Ligon lintless-2, is controlled by a single dominant gene (Li(2)) and results in extremely shortened lint fibers on mature seeds with no visible pleiotropic effects on vegetative growth and development. The Li(2) mutant phenotype provides an ideal model system to study fiber elongation. To understand metabolic processes involved in cotton fiber elongation, changes in metabolites and transcripts in the Li(2) mutant fibers were compared to wild-type fibers during development.

RESULTS

Principal component analysis of metabolites from GC-MS data separated Li(2) mutant fiber samples from WT fiber samples at the WT elongation stage, indicating that the Li(2) mutation altered the metabolome of the mutant fibers. The observed alterations in the Li(2) metabolome included significant reductions in the levels of detected free sugars, sugar alcohols, sugar acids, and sugar phosphates. Biological processes associated with carbohydrate biosynthesis, cell wall loosening, and cytoskeleton were also down-regulated in Li(2) fibers. Gamma-aminobutyric acid, known as a signaling factor in many organisms, was significantly elevated in mutant fibers. Higher accumulation of 2-ketoglutarate, succinate, and malate suggested higher nitrate assimilation in the Li(2) line. Transcriptional activation of genes involved in nitrogen compound metabolism along with changes in the levels of nitrogen transport amino acids suggested re-direction of carbon flow into nitrogen metabolism in Li(2) mutant fibers.

CONCLUSIONS

This report provides the first comprehensive analysis of metabolite and transcript changes in response to the Li(2) mutation in elongating fibers. A number of factors associated with cell elongation found in this study will facilitate further research in understanding metabolic processes of cotton fiber elongation.

Increasing cotton genome coverage with polymorphic SSRs as revealed by SSCP

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are widely used in plant genetics and breeding. However, there are many SSR markers that do not reveal polymorphism in cotton. Traditional SSR genotyping methods only provide information on product sizes. This leaves many marker polymorphism undetected, thus, lowering the utility of SSRs. In the present study, monomorphic SSRs between two mapping parents, 'Emian22' and 3-79, were subjected to single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis to reveal polymorphism. Of the 4194 monomorphic SSR primer pairs, 158 pairs (3.77%) showed polymorphism and revealed 174 polymorphic loci. Sequence analysis showed that the differences in PCR products between the mapping parents were solely due to base transition or transversion, which was in agreement with SSCP principles. SSCP also revealed SSRs with motifs of AT/TA and GAA/CTT were more polymorphic in dinucleotides and trinucleotides, respectively. Genetic mapping integrated 160 loci into our interspecific BC(1) linkage map, 5 of which associated with QTLs related to cotton fiber quality. The technique discussed in the present study enables us to detect polymorphism of monomorphic SSRs, and increase the utilization efficiency of the existing SSR primers.

Transcriptome analysis reveals critical genes and key pathways for early cotton fiber elongation in Ligon lintless-1 mutant

Fiber length is a key determinant of cotton yield and quality. Using a monogenic dominant cotton mutant Ligon lintless-1 with extremely short fibers, we employed microarray technology and quantitative real time PCR to compare transcriptomes of Li(1) and the normal wild-type TM-1, the results showed that only a few genes differentially expressed in 0 days postanthesis (DPA) ovules and 3 DPA fibers, whereas 577 transcripts differentially expressed in 6 DPA fibers. 6 DPA is probably a key phase determining fiber elongation. Gene ontology analyses showed such processes as response to stimulus, signal transduction, and lipid metabolism were readjusted by the mutant gene. Pathway studio analysis indicated that auxin signaling and sugar signaling pathways play major roles in modulation of early fiber elongation. This work provides new insight into the mechanisms of fiber development, and offers novel genes as potential objects for genetic manipulation to achieve improvement of fiber properties.

A combined functional and structural genomics approach identified an EST-SSR marker with complete linkage to the Ligon lintless-2 genetic locus in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

BACKGROUND

Cotton fiber length is an important quality attribute to the textile industry and longer fibers can be more efficiently spun into yarns to produce superior fabrics. There is typically a negative correlation between yield and fiber quality traits such as length. An understanding of the regulatory mechanisms controlling fiber length can potentially provide a valuable tool for cotton breeders to improve fiber length while maintaining high yields. The cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fiber mutation Ligon lintless-2 is controlled by a single dominant gene (Li2) that results in significantly shorter fibers than a wild-type. In a near-isogenic state with a wild-type cotton line, Li2 is a model system with which to study fiber elongation.

RESULTS

Two near-isogenic lines of Ligon lintless-2 (Li2) cotton, one mutant and one wild-type, were developed through five generations of backcrosses (BC5). An F2 population was developed from a cross between the two Li2 near-isogenic lines and used to develop a linkage map of the Li2 locus on chromosome 18. Five simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were closely mapped around the Li2 locus region with two of the markers flanking the Li2 locus at 0.87 and 0.52 centimorgan. No apparent differences in fiber initiation and early fiber elongation were observed between the mutant ovules and the wild-type ones. Gene expression profiling using microarrays suggested roles of reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis and cytokinin regulation in the Li2 mutant phenotype. Microarray gene expression data led to successful identification of an EST-SSR marker (NAU3991) that displayed complete linkage to the Li2 locus.

CONCLUSIONS

In the field of cotton genomics, we report the first successful conversion of gene expression data into an SSR marker that is associated with a genomic region harboring a gene responsible for a fiber trait. The EST-derived SSR marker NAU3991 displayed complete linkage to the Li2 locus on chromosome 18 and resided in a gene with similarity to a putative plectin-related protein. The complete linkage suggests that this expressed sequence may be the Li2 gene.

Proteomic identification of differentially expressed proteins in the Ligon lintless mutant of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Cotton fiber is an ideal model for studying plant cell elongation. To date, the underlying mechanisms controlling fiber elongation remain unclear due to their high complexity. In this study, a comparative proteomic analysis between a short-lint fiber mutant (Ligon lintless, Li(1)) and its wild-type was performed to identify fiber elongation-related proteins. By 2-DE combined with local EST database-assisted MS/MS analysis, 81 differentially expressed proteins assigned to different functional categories were identified from Li(1) fibers, of which 54 were down-regulated and 27 were up-regulated. Several novel aspects regarding cotton fiber elongation can be illustrated from our data. First, over half of the down-regulated proteins were newly identified at the protein level, which is mainly involved in protein folding and stabilization, nucleocytoplasmic transport, signal transduction, and vesicular-mediated transport. Second, a number of cytoskeleton-related proteins showed a remarkable decrease in protein abundance in the Li(1) fibers. Accordingly, the architecture of actin cytoskeleton was severely deformed and the microtubule organization was moderately altered, accompanied with dramatic disruption of vesicle trafficking. Third, the expression of several proteins involved in unfolded protein response (UPR) was activated in Li(1) fibers, indicating that the deficiency of fiber cell elongation was related to ER stress. Collectively, these findings significantly advanced our understanding of the mechanisms associated with cotton fiber elongation.

Aberrant Expression of Critical Genes during Secondary Cell Wall Biogenesis in a Cotton Mutant, Ligon Lintless-1 (Li-1)

Over ninety percent of the value of cotton comes from its fiber; however, the genetic mechanisms governing fiber development are poorly understood. Due to their biochemical and morphological diversity in fiber cells cotton fiber mutants have been useful in examining fiber development; therefore, using the Ligon Lintless (Li-1) mutant, a monogenic dominant cotton mutant with very short fibers, we employed the high throughput approaches of microarray technology and real time PCR to gain insights into what genes were critical during the secondary cell wall synthesis stage. Comparative transcriptome analysis of the normal TM-1 genotype and the near isogenic Li-1 revealed that over 100 transcripts were differentially expressed at least 2-fold during secondary wall biogenesis, although the genetic profile of the expansion phase showed no significant differences in the isolines. Of particular note, we identified three candidate gene families-expansin, sucrose synthase, and tubulin-whose expression in Li-1 deviates from normal expression patterns of its parent, TM-1. These genes may contribute to retarded growth of fibers in Li-1 since they are fiber-expressed structural and metabolic genes. This work provides more details into the mechanisms of fiber development, and suggests the Li gene is active during the later stages of fiber development.

Developmental and molecular physiological evidence for the role of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in rapid cotton fibre elongation

Cotton fibres are hair-like single-cells that elongate to several centimetres long after their initiation from the ovule epidermis at anthesis. The accumulation of malate, along with K+ and sugars, is thought to play an important role in fibre elongation through osmotic regulation and charge balance. However, there is a lack of evidence for or against such an hypothesis. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) is a key enzyme responsible for the synthesis of malate. The potential role of PEPC in cotton fibre elongation is examined here. Developmentally, PEPC activity was higher at the rapid elongation phase than that at the slow elongation stage. Genotypically, PEPC activity correlated positively with the rate of fibre elongation and the final fibre length attained. Importantly, suppression of PEPC activity by LiCl that reduces its phosphorylation status decreased fibre length. To examine the molecular basis underlying PEPC activity, two cDNAs encoding PEPC, GhPEPC1 and 2, were cloned, which represents the major PEPC genes expressed in cotton fibre. RT-PCR analyses revealed that GhPEPC1 and 2 were highly expressed at the rapid elongation phase but weakly at the slow-to-terminal elongation period. In situ hybridization detected mRNA of GhPEPC1 and 2 in 1 d young fibres but not in the ovule epidermis prior to fibre initiation. Collectively, the data indicate that cotton fibre elongation requires high activity of PEPC, probably through the expression of the GhPEPC1 and 2 genes.

Simple sequence repeat marker associated with a natural leaf defoliation trait in tetraploid cotton

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) leaf defoliation has a significant ecological and economical impact on cotton production. Thus the utilization of a natural leaf defoliation trait, which exists in wild diploid cotton species, in the development of tetraploid cultivated cotton will not only be cost effective, but will also facilitate production of very high-grade fiber. The primary goal of our research was to tag loci associated with natural leaf defoliation using microsatellite markers in Upland cotton. The F2 populations developed from reciprocal crosses between the two parental cotton lines--AN-Boyovut-2 (2n = 52), a late leaf defoliating type, and Listopad Beliy (2n = 52), a naturally early leaf defoliating type--demonstrated that the naturally early leaf defoliation trait has heritability values of 0.74 and 0.84 in the reciprocal F2 population. The observed phenotypic segregation difference in reciprocal crosses suggested a minor cytoplasmic effect in the phenotypic expression of the naturally early leaf defoliation trait. Results from the Kruskal-Wallis (KW) nonparametric test revealed that JESPR-13 (KW = 6.17), JESPR-153 (KW = 9.97), and JESPR-178 (KW = 13.45) Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are significantly associated with natural leaf defoliation in the mapping population having stable estimates at empirically obtained critical thresholds (P < .05-.0001). JESPR-178 revealed the highest estimates (P < .0001) for association with the natural leaf defoliation trait, exceeding maximum empirical threshold values. JESPR-178 was assigned to the short arm of chromosome 18, suggesting indirectly that genes associated with natural leaf defoliation might be located on this chromosome. This microsatellite marker may have the potential for use to introgress the naturally early leaf defoliation quantitative trait loci (QTL) from the donor line Listopad Beliy to commercial varieties of cotton through marker-assisted selection programs.

Genetic mapping and comparative analysis of seven mutants related to seed fiber development in cotton

Mapping of genes that play major roles in cotton fiber development is an important step toward their cloning and manipulation, and provides a test of their relationships (if any) to agriculturally-important QTLs. Seven previously identified fiber mutants, four dominant (Li (1), Li (2), N (1) and Fbl) and three recessive (n (2), sma-4(h (a)), and sma-4(fz)), were genetically mapped in six F(2) populations comprising 124 or more plants each. For those mutants previously assigned to chromosomes by using aneuploids or by linkage to other morphological markers, all map locations were concordant except n (2), which mapped to the homoeolog of the chromosome previously reported. Three mutations with primary effects on fuzz fibers (N (1), Fbl, n (2)) mapped near the likelihood peaks for QTLs that affected lint fiber productivity in the same populations, perhaps suggesting pleiotropic effects on both fiber types. However, only Li (1) mapped within the likelihood interval for 191 previously detected lint fiber QTLs discovered in non-mutant crosses, suggesting that these mutations may occur in genes that played early roles in cotton fiber evolution, and for which new allelic variants are quickly eliminated from improved germplasm. A close positional association between sma-4(h ( a )), two leaf and stem-borne trichome mutants (t (1) , t (2)), and a gene previously implicated in fiber development, sucrose synthase, raises questions about the possibility that these genes may be functionally related. Increasing knowledge of the correspondence of the cotton and Arabidopsis genomes provides several avenues by which genetic dissection of cotton fiber development may be accelerated.

Exact tandem repeats analyzer (E-TRA): a new program for DNA sequence mining

Exact Tandem Repeats Analyzer 1.0 (E-TRA) combines sequence motif searches with keywords such as 'organs', 'tissues', 'cell lines' and 'development stages' for finding simple exact tandem repeats as well as non-simple repeats. E-TRA has several advanced repeat search parameters/options compared to other repeat finder programs as it not only accepts GenBank, FASTA and expressed sequence tags (EST) sequence files, but also does analysis of multiple files with multiple sequences. The minimum and maximum tandem repeat motif lengths that E-TRA finds vary from one to one thousand. Advanced user defined parameters/options let the researchers use different minimum motif repeats search criteria for varying motif lengths simultaneously. One of the most interesting features of genomes is the presence of relatively short tandem repeats (TRs). These repeated DNA sequences are found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, distributed almost at random throughout the genome. Some of the tandem repeats play important roles in the regulation of gene expression whereas others do not have any known biological function as yet. Nevertheless, they have proven to be very beneficial in DNA profiling and genetic linkage analysis studies. To demonstrate the use of E-TRA, we used 5,465,605 human EST sequences derived from 18,814,550 GenBank EST sequences. Our results indicated that 12.44% (679,800) of the human EST sequences contained simple and non-simple repeat string patterns varying from one to 126 nucleotides in length. The results also revealed that human organs, tissues, cell lines and different developmental stages differed in number of repeats as well as repeat composition, indicating that the distribution of expressed tandem repeats among tissues or organs are not random, thus differing from the un-transcribed repeats found in genomes.

An ATP-binding cassette transporter GhWBC1 from elongating cotton fibers

We have isolated a cDNA (GhWBC1) from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) that encodes an ATP-binding cassette transporter of the WBC (white/brown complex) subfamily. Members of this subfamily are half-sized transporters and are reported to mediate lipid and drug excretion in human (Homo sapiens). GhWBC1 is highly expressed in developing fiber cells, but transcripts were also detectable in other tissues except roots. The transcript level peaked in rapidly expanding fibers from 5 to 9 DPA and then decreased. The GhWBC1 expression was weak in fiber cells of an li (ligon-lintless) mutant, which is defective in fiber cell elongation. These data indicate that GhWBC1 gene expression correlates with cotton fiber elongation. Transient expression of enhanced green fluorescence protein-GhWBC1 fusion protein in onion (Allium cepa) epidermal cells revealed plasma membrane localization. The GhWBC1 cDNA driven by a constitutive 35S promoter was introduced into Arabidopsis. About 13% of the transformants produced short siliques (SSs), whereas others had normal siliques (long siliques [LSs]). In siliques of SS lines, most embryos were severely shriveled, and only several seeds per silique could be found at maturity. The transgene expression level was higher in SS lines than in LS lines. Expression of AtWBC11, the closest homolog of GhWBC1 in Arabidopsis, was not altered in either SS or LS transgenic plants examined. These data suggest that GhWBC1 interferes with substance translocation that is required for Arabidopsis seed and silique development. Characterization of Arabidopsis WBC members, particularly AtWBC11, will help to dissect the role of GhWBC1 in cotton fiber development and elongation.