Abstract
Cotton provides us the most important natural fibre. High fibre quality is the major goal of cotton breeding, and introducing genes conferring longer, finer and stronger fibre from Gossypium barbadense to Gossypium hirsutum is an important breeding strategy. We previously analysed the G. barbadense fibre development mechanism by gene expression profiling and found two homoeologous fibre-specific α-expansins from G. barbadense, GbEXPA2 and GbEXPATR. GbEXPA2 (from the DT genome) is a classical α-expansin, while its homoeolog, GbEXPATR (AT genome), encodes a truncated protein lacking the normal C-terminal polysaccharide-binding domain of other α-expansins and is specifically expressed in G. barbadense. Silencing EXPA in G. hirsutum induced shorter fibres with thicker cell walls. GbEXPA2 overexpression in G. hirsutum had no effect on mature fibre length, but produced fibres with a slightly thicker wall and increased crystalline cellulose content. Interestingly, GbEXPATR overexpression resulted in longer, finer and stronger fibres coupled with significantly thinner cell walls. The longer and thinner fibre was associated with lower expression of a number of secondary wall-associated genes, especially chitinase-like genes, and walls with lower cellulose levels but higher noncellulosic polysaccharides which advocated that a delay in the transition to secondary wall synthesis might be responsible for better fibre. In conclusion, we propose that α-expansins play a critical role in fibre development by loosening the cell wall; furthermore, a truncated form, GbEXPATR, has a more dramatic effect through reorganizing secondary wall synthesis and metabolism and should be a candidate gene for developing G. hirsutum cultivars with superior fibre quality.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 951-963 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Plant Biotechnology Journal |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 1 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Cell elongation
- Cotton fibre
- Gossypium barbadense (cotton)
- Secondary cell wall
- Truncated α-expansin
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Plant Science
- Biotechnology
- Agronomy and Crop Science
Cite this
GbEXPATR, a species-specific expansin, enhances cotton fibre elongation through cell wall restructuring. / Li, Yang; Tu, Lili; Pettolino, Filomena A.; Ji, Shengmei; Hao, Juan; Yuan, Daojun; Deng, Fenglin; Tan, Jiafu; Hu, Haiyan; Wang, Qing; Llewellyn, Danny J.; Zhang, Xianlong.
In: Plant Biotechnology Journal, Vol. 14, No. 3, 01.03.2016, p. 951-963.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - GbEXPATR, a species-specific expansin, enhances cotton fibre elongation through cell wall restructuring
AU - Li, Yang
AU - Tu, Lili
AU - Pettolino, Filomena A.
AU - Ji, Shengmei
AU - Hao, Juan
AU - Yuan, Daojun
AU - Deng, Fenglin
AU - Tan, Jiafu
AU - Hu, Haiyan
AU - Wang, Qing
AU - Llewellyn, Danny J.
AU - Zhang, Xianlong
PY - 2016/3/1
Y1 - 2016/3/1
N2 - Cotton provides us the most important natural fibre. High fibre quality is the major goal of cotton breeding, and introducing genes conferring longer, finer and stronger fibre from Gossypium barbadense to Gossypium hirsutum is an important breeding strategy. We previously analysed the G. barbadense fibre development mechanism by gene expression profiling and found two homoeologous fibre-specific α-expansins from G. barbadense, GbEXPA2 and GbEXPATR. GbEXPA2 (from the DT genome) is a classical α-expansin, while its homoeolog, GbEXPATR (AT genome), encodes a truncated protein lacking the normal C-terminal polysaccharide-binding domain of other α-expansins and is specifically expressed in G. barbadense. Silencing EXPA in G. hirsutum induced shorter fibres with thicker cell walls. GbEXPA2 overexpression in G. hirsutum had no effect on mature fibre length, but produced fibres with a slightly thicker wall and increased crystalline cellulose content. Interestingly, GbEXPATR overexpression resulted in longer, finer and stronger fibres coupled with significantly thinner cell walls. The longer and thinner fibre was associated with lower expression of a number of secondary wall-associated genes, especially chitinase-like genes, and walls with lower cellulose levels but higher noncellulosic polysaccharides which advocated that a delay in the transition to secondary wall synthesis might be responsible for better fibre. In conclusion, we propose that α-expansins play a critical role in fibre development by loosening the cell wall; furthermore, a truncated form, GbEXPATR, has a more dramatic effect through reorganizing secondary wall synthesis and metabolism and should be a candidate gene for developing G. hirsutum cultivars with superior fibre quality.
AB - Cotton provides us the most important natural fibre. High fibre quality is the major goal of cotton breeding, and introducing genes conferring longer, finer and stronger fibre from Gossypium barbadense to Gossypium hirsutum is an important breeding strategy. We previously analysed the G. barbadense fibre development mechanism by gene expression profiling and found two homoeologous fibre-specific α-expansins from G. barbadense, GbEXPA2 and GbEXPATR. GbEXPA2 (from the DT genome) is a classical α-expansin, while its homoeolog, GbEXPATR (AT genome), encodes a truncated protein lacking the normal C-terminal polysaccharide-binding domain of other α-expansins and is specifically expressed in G. barbadense. Silencing EXPA in G. hirsutum induced shorter fibres with thicker cell walls. GbEXPA2 overexpression in G. hirsutum had no effect on mature fibre length, but produced fibres with a slightly thicker wall and increased crystalline cellulose content. Interestingly, GbEXPATR overexpression resulted in longer, finer and stronger fibres coupled with significantly thinner cell walls. The longer and thinner fibre was associated with lower expression of a number of secondary wall-associated genes, especially chitinase-like genes, and walls with lower cellulose levels but higher noncellulosic polysaccharides which advocated that a delay in the transition to secondary wall synthesis might be responsible for better fibre. In conclusion, we propose that α-expansins play a critical role in fibre development by loosening the cell wall; furthermore, a truncated form, GbEXPATR, has a more dramatic effect through reorganizing secondary wall synthesis and metabolism and should be a candidate gene for developing G. hirsutum cultivars with superior fibre quality.
KW - Cell elongation
KW - Cotton fibre
KW - Gossypium barbadense (cotton)
KW - Secondary cell wall
KW - Truncated α-expansin
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84958892994&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84958892994&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/pbi.12450
DO - 10.1111/pbi.12450
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84958892994
VL - 14
SP - 951
EP - 963
JO - Plant Biotechnology Journal
JF - Plant Biotechnology Journal
SN - 1467-7644
IS - 3
ER -