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. 2023 Apr 5:14:1163041.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1163041. eCollection 2023.

Comprehensive genomic identification of cotton starch synthase genes reveals that GhSS9 regulates drought tolerance

Maohua Dai  1   2 , Xiaomin Yang  1   3 , Quanjia Chen  2 , Zhigang Bai  3
Affiliations

Comprehensive genomic identification of cotton starch synthase genes reveals that GhSS9 regulates drought tolerance

Maohua Dai et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Introduction: Starch metabolism is involved in the stress response. Starch synthase (SS) is the key enzyme in plant starch synthesis, which plays an indispensable role in the conversion of pyrophosphoric acid to starch. However, the SS gene family in cotton has not been comprehensively identified and systematically analyzed.

Result: In our study, a total of 76 SS genes were identified from four cotton genomes and divided into five subfamilies through phylogenetic analysis. Genetic structure analysis proved that SS genes from the same subfamily had similar genetic structure and conserved sequences. A cis-element analysis of the SS gene promoter showed that it mainly contains light response elements, plant hormone response elements, and abiotic stress elements, which indicated that the SS gene played key roles not only in starch synthesis but also in abiotic stress response. Furthermore, we also conducted a gene interaction network for SS proteins. Silencing GhSS9 expression decreased the resistance of cotton to drought stress. These findings suggested that SS genes could be related to drought stress in cotton, which provided theoretical support for further research on the regulation mechanism of SS genes on abiotic starch synthesis and sugar levels.

Keywords: GhSS9; VIGS; cotton; drought stress; gene network; starch synthase.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phylogenetic analysis of SS protein from Oryza sativa L., Arabidopsis thaliana, and cotton.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Conserved motifs and exon-intron structure of SS genes in G arboreum, G raimondii, G hirsutum, and G barbadense. (A) Phylogenetic tree of SS genes. (B) Conserved motifs of SS proteins. (C) The exon–intron structure of SS genes.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Chromosomal locations of SS genes in G arboreum, G raimondii, G hirsutum, and G barbadense. (A) G arboretum, (B) G raimondii, (C) G barbadense, and (D) G hirsutum.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Syntenic relationship of SS duplicate gene pairs in cotton.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Analysis of the non-synonymous (Ka) to synonymous (Ks) ratio. (A) Nonsynonymous (Ka) and synonymous (Ks) divergence values for Ga–Ga, Ga-Gb, Ga-Gr, Ga-Gh, Gb-Gb, Gb-Gr, Gb-Gh, Gr-Gr, Gr-Gh, and Gh-Gh are shown in the circular chart. (B) Prediction number of the duplicate gene pairs involved in different combinations of four cotton species.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Promoters and conservative domains of SS genes in G arboreum, G raimondii, G hirsutum, and G barbadense. (A) Phylogenetic tree of SS genes. (B) Promoters of SS proteins. (C) The conservative domain of SS genes.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Interaction network of GhSS proteins.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Function verification of GhSS9. (A) Phenotypic comparison of GhSS9-silenced plants under drought stress. (B) Detection of GhSS9 silencing efficiency (***p <0.001).
Figure 9
Figure 9
A model for the role of starch synthase (GhSS) in the drought resistance of cotton.
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