Antisense expression of Gossypium hirsutum UDP-glucuronate decarboxylase in Arabidopsis leads to changes in cell wall components.

UDP-glucuronate decarboxylase (UDP-xylose synthase; UXS, EC 4.1.1.35) is an essential enzyme of the non-cellulosic polysaccharide biosynthetic pathway. In the present study, using transient expression of fluorescently labeled Gossypium hirsutum UXS (GhUXS3) protein in onion epidermal cells, we observed that this protein was distributed in the cytoplasm. The GhUXS3 cDNA of cotton was expressed in an antisense orientation in Arabidopsis thaliana by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Homozygous plants showing down-regulation of UXS were analyzed with northern blots. Compared to the untransformed control, transgenic plant showed shorter roots, earlier blossom formation, and delayed senescence. Biochemical analysis indicated that levels of rhamnose, mannose, galactose, glucose, xylose, and cellulose were reduced in some of the down-regulated antisense plants. These results suggest that GhUXS3 regulates the conversion of non-cellulosic polysaccharides and modulates their composition in plant cell walls. We also discuss a possible cellular function for GhUXS in determining the quality of cotton fibers.

Overexpression of EsMcsu1 from the halophytic plant Eutrema salsugineum promotes abscisic acid biosynthesis and increases drought resistance in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).

The stress phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays pivotal roles in plants' adaptive responses to adverse environments. Molybdenum cofactor sulfurases influence aldehyde oxidase activity and ABA biosynthesis. In this study, we isolated a novel EsMcsu1 gene encoding a molybdenum cofactor sulfurase from Eutrema salsugineum. EsMcus1 transcriptional patterns varied between organs, and its expression was significantly upregulated by abiotic stress or ABA treatment. Alfalfa plants that overexpressed EsMcsu1 had a higher ABA content than wild-type (WT) plants under drought stress conditions. Furthermore, levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), ion leakage, and malondialdehyde were lower in the transgenic plants than in the WT plants after drought treatment, suggesting that the transgenic plants experienced less ROS-mediated damage. However, the expression of several stress-responsive genes, antioxidant enzyme activity, and osmolyte (proline and total soluble sugar) levels in the transgenic plants were higher than those in the WT plants after drought treatment. Therefore, EsMcsu1 overexpression improved drought tolerance in alfalfa plants by activating a series of ABA-mediated stress responses.

Cloning of a phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase gene based on fiber strength transcriptome QTL mapping in the cotton species Gossypium barbadense.

Sea Island cotton (Gossypium barbadense) is highly valued for its superior fiber qualities, especially fiber strength. Based on a transcript-derived fragment originated from transcriptome QTL mapping, a fiber strength related candidate gene of phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase cDNA, designated as GbPI4K, was first cloned, and its expression was characterized in the secondary cell wall thickening stage of G. barbadense fibers. The ORF of GbPI4K was found to be 1926 bp in length and encoded a predicted protein of 641 amino acid residues. The putative protein contained a clear PI3/4K kinase catalytic domain and fell into the plant type II PI4K cluster in phylogenetic analysis. In this study, the expression of cotton PI4K protein was also induced in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) as a fused protein. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the gene expressed in the root, hypocotyl and leaf of the cotton plants. Real-time RT-PCR indicated that this gene in Sea Island cotton fibers expressed 10 days longer than that in Upland cotton fibers, and the main expression difference of PI4K between Sea Island cotton and Upland cotton in fibers was located in the secondary cell wall thickening stage of the fiber. Further analysis indicated that PI4K is a crucial factor in the ability of Rac proteins to regulate phospholipid signaling pathways.

Assessing genetic diversity of cotton cultivars using genomic and newly developed expressed sequence tag-derived microsatellite markers.

Estimations of genetic diversity and of relationships between varieties are crucial for cotton breeding. The genetic diversity of 59 core cotton cultivars, most of which were collected from China's main cotton-growing areas, was analyzed based on genomic and newly developed expressed sequence tag-derived microsatellite markers, using total DNA extracted from fresh leaf tissue. Three hundred and two fragments were detected, of which 255 were polymorphic. The number of amplification products generated by each primer varied from 2 to 14, with a mean of 5.08 bands/primer. The polymorphism information content was 0.50 to 0.90, with a mean of 0.80. The genetic similarity coefficients were calculated and dendrograms were constructed by the unweighted pair group with arithmetic mean method; the resulting distance matrix gave a dendrogram with four main clusters. Some cultivars with similar pedigrees could be clustered. For example, Zhong206 and Shanmian4, both derived from Deltapine15, were clustered. The genetic similarity coefficient of the 59 core cultivars ranged from 0.53 to 0.99, with a mean of 0.72, indicating that there was a relatively high level of genetic variation.