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Background Cotton ( Gossypium spp.) is the most important fiber and oil crop in the world. With the emergence of huge -omics data sets, it is essential to have an integrated functional genomics database that allows worldwide users to quickly and easily fetch and visualize genomic information. Currently available cotton-related databases have some weakness in integrating multiple kinds of -omics data from multiple Gossypium species. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an integrated functional genomics database for cotton. Description We developed CottonFGD (Cotton Functional Genomic Database, https://cottonfgd.org ), an integrated database that includes genomic sequences, gene structural and functional annotations, genetic marker data, transcriptome data, and population genome resequencing data for all four of the sequenced Gossypium species. It consists of three interconnected modules: search, profile, and analysis. These modules make CottonFGD enable both single gene review and batch analysis with multiple kinds of -omics data and multiple species. CottonFGD also includes additional pages for data statistics, bulk data download, and a detailed user manual. Conclusion Equipped with specialized functional modules and modernized visualization tools, and populated with multiple kinds of -omics data, CottonFGD provides a quick and easy-to-use data analysis platform for cotton researchers worldwide.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a gram negative soil bacterium. This bacterium secretes various proteins during different growth phases with an insecticidal potential against many economically important crop pests. One of the important families of Bt proteins is vegetative insecticidal proteins (Vip), which are secreted into the growth medium during vegetative growth. There are three subfamilies of Vip proteins. Vip1 and Vip2 heterodimer toxins have an insecticidal activity against many Coleopteran and Hemipteran pests. Vip3, the most extensively studied family of Vip toxins, is effective against Lepidopteron. Vip proteins do not share homology in sequence and binding sites with Cry proteins, but share similarities at some points in their mechanism of action. Vip3 proteins are expressed as pyramids alongside Cry proteins in crops like maize and cotton, so as to control resistant pests and delay the evolution of resistance. Biotechnological- and in silico-based analyses are promising for the generation of mutant Vip proteins with an enhanced insecticidal activity and broader spectrum of target insects.

Key messageThe transcription of GhAG2 was strongly enhanced by glyphosate treatment. Overexpression of GhAG2 could improve plant tolerance to salt and salicylic acid stress.Although glyphosate has been widely used as an herbicide over the past decade owing to its high efficacy on weed controls and worldwide commercialization of glyphosate-resistant crops, little is known about the glyphosate-induced responses and transcriptional changes in cotton plants. Here, we report the identification of 26 differentially expressed genes after glyphosate treatment, among which, six highly up-regulated sequences share homology to cotton expressed sequence tags (ESTs) responsive to abiotic stresses. In addition, we cloned GhAG2, a gene whose transcription was strongly enhanced by glyphosate treatment and other abiotic stresses. Transgenic GhAG2 plants showed improved tolerance to salt, and salicylic acid (SA) stress. The results could open the door to exploring the function of the GhAG2 proteins, the glyphosate-induced transcriptional profiles, and the physiological biochemical responses in cotton and other crops. GhAG2 could also be used to improve salt stress tolerance through breeding and biotechnology in crops. Furthermore, these results could provide guidelines to develop a glyphosate-inducible system for controlled expression of targeted genes in plants.

Drought and high salinity are key limiting factors for cotton quality and yield. Therefore, research is increasingly focused on mining effective genes to improve the stress resistance of cotton. Few studies have demonstrated that bacterial Cold shock proteins ( Csps ) overexpression can enhance plants stress tolerance. Here, we first identified and cloned a gene DgCspC encoding 88 amino acids (aa) with an open reading frame (ORF) of 264 base pairs (bp) from a Deinococcus gobiensis I-0 with high resistance to strong radiation, drought, and high temperature. In this study, heterologous expression of DgCspC promoted cotton growth, as exhibited by larger leaf size and higher plant height than the wild-type plants. Moreover, transgenic cotton lines showed higher tolerance to drought and salts stresses than wild-type plants, as revealed by susceptibility phenotype and physiological indexes. Furthermore, the enhanced stresses tolerance was attributed to high capacity of cellular osmotic regulation and ROS scavenging resulted from DgCspC expression modulating relative genes upregulated to cause proline and betaine accumulation. Meanwhile, photosynthetic efficiency and yield were significantly higher in the transgenic cotton than in the wild-type control under field conditions. This study provides a newly effective gene resource to cultivate new cotton varieties with high stresses resistance and yield.

The biosynthesis of secondary metabolites like anthocyanins is often governed by metabolic gene clusters (MGCs) in the plant ancestral genome. However, the existence of gene clusters specifically regulating anthocyanin accumulation in certain organs is not well understood. In this study, we identify MGCs linked to the coloration of cotton reproductive organs, such as petals, spots, and fibers. Through genetic analysis and map-based cloning, we pinpointed key genes on chromosome A07, such as , which is involved in anthocyanin transport, and and , which are associated with the regulation of anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin biosynthesis. Our results demonstrate the coordinated control of anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin pathways, highlighting the evolutionary significance of MGCs in plant adaptation. The conservation of these clusters in cotton chromosome A07 across species underscores their importance in reproductive development and color variation. Our study sheds light on the complex biosynthesis and transport mechanisms for plant pigments, emphasizing the role of transcription factors and transport proteins in pigment accumulation. This research offers insights into the genetic basis of color variation in cotton reproductive organs and the potential of MGCs to enhance our comprehension of plant secondary metabolism.

Plant trichomes are specialized epidermal cells that are widely distributed on plant aerial tissues. The initiation and progression of trichomes are controlled in a coordinated sequence of multiple molecular events. During the past decade, major breakthroughs in the molecular understanding of trichome development were achieved through the characterization of various trichomes defective mutants and trichome-associated genes, which revealed a highly complex molecular regulatory network underlying plant trichome development. This review focuses on the recent millstone in plant trichomes research obtained using genetic and molecular studies, as well as ‘omics’ analyses in model plant Arabidopsis and fiber crop cotton. In particular, we discuss the latest understanding and insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms of trichomes formation at multiple dimensions, including at the chromatin, transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational levels. We summarize that the integration of multi-dimensional trichome-associated genes will enable us to systematically understand the molecular regulation network that landscapes the development of the plant trichomes. These advances will enable us to address the unresolved questions regarding the molecular crosstalk that coordinate concurrent and ordered the changes in cotton fiber initiation and progression, together with their possible implications for genetic improvement of cotton fiber.

The timing of flowering is a key determinant for plant reproductive. It has been demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in transition from the vegetative to reproductive stage in cotton; however, knowledge remains limited about the regulatory role of miRNAs involved in flowering time regulation in cotton. To elucidate the molecular basis of miRNAs in response to flowering time in cotton, we performed high-throughput small RNA sequencing at the fifth true leaf stage. We identified 56 and 43 miRNAs that were significantly up- and downregulated in two elite early flowering cultivars (EFC) compared with two late flowering cultivars (LFC), respectively. The miRNA targets by RNA sequencing analysis showed that GhSPL4 in SBP transcription factor family targeted by GhmiR156 was significantly upregulated in EFCs. Co-expression regulatory network analysis (WGCNA) revealed that GhSOC1 , GhAP1 , GhFD , GhCOL3 , and GhAGL16 act as node genes in the auxin- and gibberellin-mediated flowering time regulatory networks in cotton. Therefore, elucidation of miRNA-mediated flowering time regulatory network will contribute to our understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying flowering time in cotton.

Background The traditional method of visualizing gene annotation data in JBrowse is converting GFF3 files to JSON format, which is time-consuming. The latest version of JBrowse supports rendering sorted GFF3 files indexed by tabix, a novel strategy that is more convenient than the original conversion process. However, current tools available for GFF3 file sorting have some limitations and their sorting results would lead to erroneous rendering in JBrowse. Results We developed GFF3sort, a script to sort GFF3 files for tabix indexing. Specifically designed for JBrowse rendering, GFF3sort can properly deal with the order of features that have the same chromosome and start position, either by remembering their original orders or by conducting parent-child topology sorting. Based on our test datasets from seven species, GFF3sort produced accurate sorting results with acceptable efficiency compared with currently available tools. Conclusions GFF3sort is a novel tool to sort GFF3 files for tabix indexing. We anticipate that GFF3sort will be useful to help with genome annotation data processing and visualization.

Background Anthocyanins, a class of specialized metabolites that are ubiquitous among plant species, have attracted a great deal of attention from plant biologists due to their chemical diversity. They confer purple, pink, and blue colors that attract pollinators, protect plants from ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) to facilitate plant survival during abiotic stress. In a previous study, we identified Beauty Mark ( BM ) in Gossypium barbadense as an activator of the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway; this gene also directly led to the formation of a pollinator-attracting purple spot. Results Here, we found that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (C/T) within the BM coding sequence was responsible for variations in this trait. Transient expression assays of BM from G. barbadense and G. hirsutum in Nicotiana benthamiana using luciferase reporter gene also suggested that SNPs in the coding sequence could be responsible for the absent beauty mark phenotype observed in G. hirsutum. We next demonstrated that the beauty mark and UV floral patterns are associated phenotypes and that UV exposure resulted in increased ROS generation in floral tissues; BM thus contributed to ROS scavenging in G. barbadense and wild cotton plants with flowers containing the beauty mark. Furthermore, a nucleotide diversity analysis and Tajima’s D Test suggested that there have been strong selective sweeps in the GhBM locus during G. hirsutum domestication. Conclusions Taken together, these results suggest that cotton species differ in their approaches to absorbing or reflecting UV light and thus exhibit variations in floral anthocyanin biosynthesis to scavenge reactive ROS; furthermore, these traits are related to the geographic distribution of cotton species.

Proper development of plant roots is critical for primary physiological functions,including water and nutrient absorption and uptake,physical support,and carbohydrate storage（Zhang et al.,2010）.Crop root systems act as the key organ for sensing and response to abiotic and biotic stresses.