Genome-wide characterization of the SHORT INTER-NODES/STYLISH and Shi-Related Sequence family in Gossypium hirsutum and functional identification of GhSRS21 under salt stress

Chendong Sun; Li Yu; Shuojun Zhang; Qijuan Gu; Mei Wang

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.1078083

Genome-wide characterization of the SHORT INTER-NODES/STYLISH and Shi-Related Sequence family in Gossypium hirsutum and functional identification of GhSRS21 under salt stress

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jan 4:13:1078083. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1078083. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Chendong Sun¹, Li Yu², Shuojun Zhang¹, Qijuan Gu³, Mei Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Horticulture, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China.
² Institute of Crop Science, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Microbiol Technology and Bioinformatics of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Institute of Microbiology, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Saline stress is a significant factor that caused crop growth inhibition and yield decline. SHORT INTERNODES/STYLISH (SHI/STY) and SHI-RELATED SEQUENCE (SRS) transcription factors are specific to plants and share a conserved RING-like zinc-finger domain (CX₂CX₇CX₄CX₂C₂X₆C). However, the functions of SHI/STY and SRS genes in cotton responses to salt stress remain unclear. In this study, 26 GhSRSs were identified in Gossypium hirsutum, which further divided into three subgroups. Phylogenetic analysis of 88 SRSs from8 plant species revealed independent evolutionary pattern in some of SRSs derived from monocots. Conserved domain and subcellular location predication of GhSRSs suggested all of them only contained the conserved RING-like zinc-finger domain (DUF702) domain and belonged to nucleus-localized transcription factors except for the GhSRS22. Furthermore, synteny analysis showed structural variation on chromosomes during the process of cotton polyploidization. Subsequently, expression patterns of GhSRS family members in response to salt and drought stress were analyzed in G. hirsutum and identified a salt stress-inducible gene GhSRS21. The GhSRS21 was proved to localize in the nuclear and silencing it in G. hirsutum increased the cotton resistance to salt using the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) system. Finally, our transcriptomic data revealed that GhSRS21 negatively controlled cotton salt tolerance by regulating the balance between ROS production and scavenging. These results will increase our understanding of the SRS gene family in cotton and provide the candidate resistant gene for cotton breeding.

Keywords: Gossypium hirsutum; SRS family; genome-wide characterization; regulation of gene expression; salt stress.