National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
Plant Mol Biol. 2020 May;103(1-2):211-223. doi: 10.1007/s11103-020-00986-0. Epub 2020 Mar 14.
The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade pathway, which has three components, MAP3Ks, MKKs and MPKs, is involved in diverse biological processes in plants. In the current study, MAPK cascade genes were identified in three cotton species, based on gene homology with Arabidopsis. Selection pressure analysis of MAPK cascade genes revealed that purifying selection occurred among the cotton species. Expression pattern analysis showed that some MAPK cascade genes differentially expressed under abiotic stresses and phytohormones treatments, and especially under drought stress. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) experiments showed extensive interactions between different MAPK cascade proteins. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) assays showed that some MAPK cascade modules play important roles in the drought stress response, and the GhMAP3K14-GhMKK11-GhMPK31 signal pathway was demonstrated to regulate drought stress tolerance in cotton. This study provides new information on the function of MAPK cascade genes in the drought response, and will help direct molecular breeding for improved drought stress tolerance in cotton.
丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（MAPK）级联途径有三个组成部分，MAP3Ks、MKKs 和 MPKs，参与植物中的多种生物过程。在本研究中，基于与拟南芥的基因同源性，在三种棉花物种中鉴定了 MAPK 级联基因。MAPK 级联基因的选择压力分析表明，在棉花物种中发生了纯化选择。表达模式分析表明，一些 MAPK 级联基因在非生物胁迫和植物激素处理下差异表达，尤其是在干旱胁迫下。酵母双杂交（Y2H）和双分子荧光互补（BiFC）实验表明不同的 MAPK 级联蛋白之间存在广泛的相互作用。病毒诱导基因沉默（VIGS）实验表明，一些 MAPK 级联模块在干旱胁迫响应中发挥重要作用，并且 GhMAP3K14-GhMKK11-GhMPK31 信号通路被证明可以调节棉花的耐旱性。本研究为 MAPK 级联基因在干旱响应中的功能提供了新信息，并将有助于指导棉花抗旱性的分子育种。
