Assembly and phylogenomic analysis of cotton mitochondrial genomes provide insights into the history of cotton evolution

Cotton is a major crop that provides the most important renewable textile fibers in the world.Studies of the taxonomy and evolution of cotton species have received wide attentions,not only due to cotton’s economic value but also due to the fact that Gossypium is an ideal model system to study the origin,evolution,and cultivation of polyploid species.Previous studies suggested the involvement of mitochondrial genome editing sites and copy number as well as mitochondrial functions in cotton fiber elongation.Whereas,with only a few mitogenomes assembled in the cotton genus Gossypium,our knowledge about their roles in cotton evolution and speciation is still scarce.To close this gap,here we assembled 20 mitogenomes from 15 cotton species spanning all the cotton clades(A–G,K,and AD genomes)and 5 cotton relatives using short and long sequencing reads.Systematic analyses uncovered a high level of mitochondrial gene sequence conservation,abundant sequence repeats and many insertions of foreign sequences,as well as extensive structural variations in cotton mitogenomes.The sequence repeats and foreign sequences caused significant mitogenome size inflation in Gossypium and its close relative Kokia in general,while there is no significant difference between the lint and fuzz cotton mitogenomes in terms of gene content,RNA editing,and gene expression level.Interestingly,we further revealed the specific presence and expression of two novel mitochondrial open reading frames(ORFs)in lint-fiber cotton species.Finally,these structural features and novel ORFs help us gain valuable insights into the history of cotton evolution and polyploidization and the origin of species producing long lint fibers from a mitogenomic perspective.

Cotton functional genomics reveals global insight into genome evolution and fiber development

Due to the economic value of natural textile fiber, cotton has attracted much research attention, which has led to the publication of two diploid genomes and two tetraploid genomes. These big data facilitate functional genomic study in cotton, and allow researchers to investigate cotton genome structure, gene expression, and protein function on the global scale using high-throughput methods. In this review, we summarized recent studies of cotton genomes. Population genomic analyses revealed the domestication history of cultivated upland cotton and the roles of transposable elements in cotton genome evolution.Alternative splicing of cotton transcriptomes was evaluated genome-widely. Several important gene families like MYC, NAC, Sus and GhPLDal were systematically identified and classified based on genetic structure and biological function. High-throughput proteomics also unraveled the key functional proteins correlated with fiber development. Functional genomic studies have provided unprecedented insights into global-scale methods for cotton research.

Transposable elements play an important role during cotton genome evolution and fiber cell development

Transposable elements(TEs)usually occupy largest fractions of plant genome and are also the most variable part of the structure.Although traditionally it is hallmarked as"junk and selfish DNA",today more and more evidence points out TE’s participation in gene regulations including gene mutation,duplication,movement and novel gene creation via genetic and epigenetic mechanisms.The recently sequenced genomes of diploid cottons Gossypium arboreum(AA)and Gossypium raimondii(DD)together with their allotetraploid progeny Gossypium hirsutum(At At Dt Dt)provides a unique opportunity to compare genome variations in the Gossypium genus and to analyze the functions of TEs during its evolution.TEs accounted for 57%,68.5%and67.2%,respectively in DD,AA and At At Dt Dt genomes.The 1,694 Mb A-genome was found to harbor more LTR(long terminal repeat)-type retrotransposons that made cardinal contributions to the twofold increase in its genome size after evolution from the 775.2 Mb D-genome.Although the 2,173 Mb At At Dt Dt genome showed similar TE content to the A-genome,the total numbers of LTR-gypsy and LTR-copia type TEs varied significantly between these two genomes.Considering their roles on rewiring gene regulatory networks,we believe that TEs may somehow be involved in cotton fiber cell development.Indeed,the insertion or deletion of different TEs in the upstream region of two important transcription factor genes in At or Dt subgenomes resulted in qualitative differences in target gene expression.We suggest that our findings may open a window for improving cotton agronomic traits by editing TE activities.

A comprehensive overview of cotton genomics,biotechnology and molecular biological studies

Cotton is an irreplaceable economic crop currently domesticated in the human world for its extremely elongated fiber cells specialized in seed epidermis,which makes it of high research and application value.To date,numerous research on cotton has navigated various aspects,from multi-genome assembly,genome editing,mechanism of fiber development,metabolite biosynthesis,and analysis to genetic breeding.Genomic and 3D genomic studies reveal the origin of cotton species and the spatiotemporal asymmetric chromatin structure in fibers.Mature multiple genome editing systems,such as CRISPR/Cas9,Cas12(Cpf1)and cytidine base editing(CBE),have been widely used in the study of candidate genes affecting fiber development.Based on this,the cotton fiber cell development network has been preliminarily drawn.Among them,the MYB-b HLH-WDR(MBW)transcription factor complex and IAA and BR signaling pathway regulate the initiation;various plant hormones,including ethylene,mediated regulatory network and membrane protein overlap fine-regulate elongation.Multistage transcription factors targeting Ces A 4,7,and 8 specifically dominate the whole process of secondary cell wall thickening.And fluorescently labeled cytoskeletal proteins can observe real-time dynamic changes in fiber development.Furthermore,research on the synthesis of cotton secondary metabolite gossypol,resistance to diseases and insect pests,plant architecture regulation,and seed oil utilization are all conducive to finding more high-quality breeding-related genes and subsequently facilitating the cultivation of better cotton varieties.This review summarizes the paramount research achievements in cotton molecular biology over the last few decades from the above aspects,thereby enabling us to conduct a status review on the current studies of cotton and provide strong theoretical support for the future direction.

Molecular Biological and Biochemical Studies Reveal New Pathways Important for Cotton Fiber Development

As one of the longest single-celled seed trichomes, fibers provide an excellent model for studying fundamental biological processes such as cell differentiation, cell expansion, and cell wall biosynthesis. In this review, we summarize recent progress in cotton functional genomic studies that characterize the dynamic changes in the transcriptomes of fiber cells. Extensive expression profilings of cotton fiber transcriptomes have provided comprehensive information, as quite a number of transcription factors and enzyme-coding genes have been shown to express preferentially during the fiber elongation period. Biosynthesis of the plant hormone ethylene is found significantly upregulated during the fiber growth period as revealed by both microarray analysis and by biochemical and physiological studies. It is suggested that genetic engineering of the ethylene pathway may improve the quality and the productivity of cotton lint. Many metabolic pathways, such as biosynthesis of cellulose and matrix polysaccharides are preferentially expressed in actively growing fiber cells. Five gene families, including proline-rich proteins （PRP）, arabinogalactan proteins （AGP）, expansins, tubulins and lipid transfer proteins （LTP） are activated during early fiber development, indicating that they may also be needed for cell elongation. In conclusion, we identify a few areas of future research for cotton functional genomic studies.

A brief summary of major advances in cotton functional genomics and molecular breeding studies in China

Cotton fibers, commonly known as cotton lint, are single-celled trichomes derived from epidermal lay- ers of cotton ovules. Despite of its importance in word trade, the molecular mechanisms of cotton fiber production is still poorly understood. Through transcriptome profiling, functional genomics, pro- teomics, metabolomics approaches as well as marker-assisted molecular breeding, scientists in China have made significant contributions in cotton research. Here, we briefly summarize major progresses made in Chinese laboratories, and discuss future directions and perspectives relative to the develop- ment of this unique crop plant.

棉花功能基因组研究进展

棉花是重要的经济作物。近年来棉花功能基因组研究发展迅速,高通量测序技术应用于棉花研究,二倍体和四倍体棉花基因组测序陆续完成,棉花全基因组重测序及关联分析相继涌现,大量的棉花功能基因被分离鉴定。本文回顾了棉花功能基因组研究的历程,重点介绍了棉花基因组测序和棉花栽培品种全基因组关联分析相关研究成果,并总结了棉花纤维和腺体发育中的关键功能基因及棉花抗旱、抗盐碱等功能基因研究进展,为全面了解棉花重要农艺性状形成的遗传基础和棉花遗传改良提供理论参考。

棉纤维发育的遗传特性及相关基因的研究进展

棉纤维是纺织工业的重要原材料,在国民经济发展中具有举足轻重的地位。棉纤维细胞发育进程是一个多基因调控的、有序的系统发生过程,包括纤维起始期、伸长期、次生壁合成与加厚期和脱水成熟期等4个时期。随着遗传学、细胞学和分子生物学等学科的交叉融合,棉纤维生长发育调控分子机制的研究已成为研究热点。目前大多研究集中在运用遗传定位、基因克隆以及近年来兴起的深度测序等技术对棉纤维生长发育的调控机制进行解析。为了更加系统地了解棉纤维的发育过程,详细描述了棉纤维发育各时期的形态结构变化及特征,概述了经典遗传学在棉纤维遗传规律和基因定位方面的工作,以及从转录组学、蛋白组学及表观遗传学领域总结了近年来深度测序技术在棉花纤维组学研究方面的运用和取得的进展,并简述了棉纤维发育各个时期所涉及的相关调控基因。纤维的产量由棉纤维发育起始期决定,长度由伸长期决定,且伸长期的生化反应最为活跃,是影响纤维品质的关键时期。棉纤维遗传规律的研究发现,性状相同而基因型不同的材料,其棉纤维遗传模式也不同。纤维品质和产量相关的数量性状位点(QTL)遍布各个染色体,一些稳定的主效QTL(如FS1, qLI17和qFL-Chr14-3等)值得科研工作者进一步关注并有望在分子辅助选择中进行应用;质量性状基因的最新进展明确了显性基因Li1和N2,分别是肌动蛋白编码基因和转录因子MYB25-like。转录组学、蛋白组学及表观遗传学领域三方位的深度测序有效建立了RNA水平和蛋白质水平、编码区域和非编码序列之间的联系,并发现一系列的转录因子、编码转脂蛋白的基因、钙信号转导相关基因、多糖合成相关蛋白、大量的miRNA以及DNA甲基化作用等共同参与棉纤维发育过程。

棉花UGPase基因鉴定与生物信息学分析

【目的】尿苷二磷酸葡萄糖焦磷酸化酶(Uridine diphosphate glucose pyrophosphorylase,UGPase)是糖合成代谢途径中的一种重要限速酶,在植物纤维细胞发育中起重要作用,但是关于棉花中UGPase基因的生物信息学研究却很少。本研究采用生物信息学手段鉴定和分析棉花UGPase基因家族特性,为其相关研究提供重要线索。【方法】以陆地棉、海岛棉、亚洲棉和雷蒙德氏棉4种棉花为主要研究对象,结合藻类、水稻、葡萄、可可、榴莲等19种植物的UGPase基因进行系统进化分析和陆地棉UGPase基因的表达特性分析。【结果】系统发育分析显示UGPase基因被分为UGPase-A和UGPase-B两大类。保守基序及适应性进化分析显示,UGPase-B类基因在进化中十分保守,UGPase-A类基因在进化中与UGPase-B类基因存在较大差异。棉花、葡萄、可可、榴莲UGPase基因同源性分析显示,棉花中大多数UGPase基因来源于异源四倍体棉花形成之前的基因组加倍事件。UGPase-A类在棉纤维发育起始和伸长期表达量较高,UGPase-B类在营养器官中表达量较高。【结论】本研究明确了UGPase两类基因的结构、功能与进化,为后续研究奠定基础。

Using Genome-Referenced Expressed Sequence Tag Assembly to Analyze the Origin and Expression Patterns of Gossypium hirsutum Transcripts

We assembled a total of 297,239 Gossypium hirsutum （Gh, a tetraploid cotton, AADD） expressed sequence tag （EST） sequences that were available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database, with reference to the recently published G. raimondii （Gr, a diploid cotton, DD） genome, and obtained 49,125 UniGenes. The average lengths of the U niGenes were increased from 804 and 791 bp in two previous EST assemblies to 1,019 bp in the current analysis. The number of putative cotton UniGenes with lengths of 3 kb or more increased from 25 or 34 to 1,223. As a result, thousands of originally independent G. hirsutum ESTs were aligned to produce large contigs encoding transcripts with very long open reading frames, indicating that the G. raimondii genome sequence provided remarkable advantages to assemble the tetraploid cotton transcriptome. Significant different distribution patterns within several GO terms, including transcription factor activity, were observed between D- and A-derived assemblies. Tran- scriptome analysis showed that, in a tetraploid cotton cell, 29,547 UniGenes were possibly derived from the D subgenome while another 19,578 may come from the A subgenome. Finally, some of the in silico data were confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction experiments to show the changes in transcript levels for several gene families known to play key role in cotton fiber development. We believe that our work provides a useful platform for functional and evolutionary genomic studies in cotton.

棉花纤维品质功能基因组学研究与分子改良研究进展

本项目基于基因组学、功能基因组学、蛋白质组学和生物信息学等多学科交叉研究了棉花纤维品质发育的分子机制:利用辐射诱变、杂交、回交、系谱选择等技术培育、挖掘出优异纤维资源384份;利用徐州142棉纤维无长绒、无短绒突变体筛选出纤维伸长相关基因;用体外培养方法验证了乙烯、油菜素(BR)的生物合成途径及部分次生物质在纤维生长过程中的作用;构建了海岛棉品种Pi-ma90-53和陆地棉7235的BAC文库;利用蛋白质组学研究了棉纤维发育过程中的一些重要蛋白质的变化,构建了棉纤维细胞蛋白质表达谱;利用抑制扣除杂交方法、基因芯片技术或从纤维cDNA文库中筛选等共获得棉纤维发育相关基因199个,并用模式系统和棉花对基因的功能进行了分析和验证;建立了高效农杆菌介导、花粉管通道、基因枪轰击3种规模化的快速基因功能验证技术体系;开发了新标记,构建了陆海、陆陆高密度分子标记遗传连锁图谱,并选择有用分子标记和生化辅助育种相结合,初步建立了棉花纤维品质分子改良育种体系。