Cotton GhBRC1 regulates branching, flowering, and growth by integrating multiple hormone pathways
Quan Sun,
Yuanhui Xie,
Huimin Li,
Jinlei Liu,
Rui Geng,
Ping Wang,
Zongyan Chu,
Ying Chang,
Guanjun Li,
Xiao Zhang,
Youlu Yuan,
Yingfan Cai
Affiliations
Quan Sun
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Big Data for Bio Intelligence, College of Bioinformation, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing 400065, China
Yuanhui Xie
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China
Huimin Li
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China
Jinlei Liu
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China
Rui Geng
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China
Ping Wang
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China
Zongyan Chu
Kaifeng Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China
Ying Chang
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China
Guanjun Li
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China
Xiao Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China
Youlu Yuan
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Key Laboratory of Cotton Genetic Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China; Corresponding authors.
Yingfan Cai
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, Henan, China; Corresponding authors.
Cotton architecture is partly determined by shoot branching and flowering patterns. GhBRC1 was previously identified by RNA-seq analysis of nulliplex-branching and normal-branching cotton. However, the roles of GhBRC1 in cotton remain unclear. In the present study, investigations of nuclear localization and transcriptional activity indicated that GhBRC1 has characteristics typical of transcription factors. Gene expression analysis showed that GhBRC1 was highly expressed in axillary buds but displayed different expression patterns between the two branching types. Overexpression of GhBRC1 in Arabidopsis significantly inhibited the number of branches and promoted flowering. In contrast, silencing GhBRC1 in cotton significantly promoted seedling growth. GhBRC1 was induced by multiple hormones, including strigolactones, which promoted seedling growth and seed germination of Arabidopsis plants overexpressing GhBRC1. 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 GhBRC1-silenced and control plants, and these genes were significantly enriched in plant hormone signalling pathways. Together, our data indicates that GhBRC1 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.
