The NPF (NITRATE TRANSPORTER 1/PEPTIDE TRANSPORTER FAMILY) transports various substrates, including nitrogen (N), which is essential for plant growth and development. Although many NPF homologs have been identified in various plants, limited studies on these proteins have been reported in cotton. This study identified 75, 71, and 150 NPF genes in Gossypium arboreum, G. raimondii, and G. hirsutum, respectively, via genome-wide analyses. The phylogenetic tree indicated that cotton NPF genes are subdivided into eight subgroups, closely clustered with Arabidopsis orthologues. The chromosomal location, gene structure, motif compositions, and cis-elements have been displayed. Moreover, the collinearity analysis showed that whole-genome duplication event has played an important role in the expansion and diversification of the NPF gene family in cotton. According to the transcriptome and qRT-PCR analyses, several GhNPFs were induced by the nitrogen deficiency treatment. Additional functional experiments revealed that virus-induced silencing (VIGS) of the GhNPF6.14 gene affects the growth and N absorption and accumulation in cotton. Thus, this study lays the foundation for further functional characterization of NPF genes in cotton.
Keywords: N deficiency conditions; NPF genes; cotton; expression pattern.