Cotton GhBRC1 regulates branching,flowering,and growth by integrating multiple hormone pathways

Cotton architecture is partly determined by shoot branching and flowering patterns.Gh BRC1 was previously identified by RNA-seq analysis of nulliplex-branching and normal-branching cotton.However,the roles of Gh BRC1 in cotton remain unclear.In the present study,investigations of nuclear localization and transcriptional activity indicated that Gh BRC1 has characteristics typical of transcription factors.Gene expression analysis showed that Gh BRC1 was highly expressed in axillary buds but displayed different expression patterns between the two branching types.Overexpression of Gh BRC1 in Arabidopsis significantly inhibited the number of branches and promoted flowering.In contrast,silencing Gh BRC1 in cotton significantly promoted seedling growth.Gh BRC1 was induced by multiple hormones,including strigolactones,which promoted seedling growth and seed germination of Arabidopsis plants overexpressing Gh BRC1.Consistent with these findings,RNA-seq analysis of virus-induced gene silencing treated cotton revealed that a large number of genes were differentially expressed between Gh BRC1-silenced and control plants,and these genes were significantly enriched in plant hormone signalling pathways.Together,our data indicates that Gh BRC1 regulates plant branching and flowering through multiple regulatory pathways,especially those regulating plant hormones,with functions partly differing from those of Arabidopsis BRC1.These results provide insights into the molecular mechanisms controlling plant architecture,which is important for breeding cotton with ideal plant architecture and high yield.