Institute of Cotton Research of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Zhengzhou Research Base, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Anyang, 455000, Henan, China.
Institute of Coastal Agriculture, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Tangshan, 063299, Hebei, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2022 Sep 15;22(1):441. doi: 10.1186/s12870-022-03829-w.
The cationic amino acid transporters (CAT) play indispensable roles in maintaining metabolic functions, such as synthesis of proteins and nitric oxide (NO), biosynthesis of polyamine, and flow of amino acids, by mediating the bidirectional transport of cationic amino acids in plant cells.
In this study, we performed a genome-wide and comprehensive study of 79 CAT genes in four species of cotton. Localization of genes revealed that CAT genes reside on the plasma membrane. Seventy-nine CAT genes were grouped into 7 subfamilies by phylogenetic analysis. Structure analysis of genes showed that CAT genes from the same subgroup have similar genetic structure and exon number. RNA-seq and real-time PCR indicated that the expression of most GhCAT genes were induced by salt, drought, cold and heat stresses. Cis-elements analysis of GhCAT promoters showed that the GhCAT genes promoters mainly contained plant hormones responsive elements and abiotic stress elements, which indicated that GhCAT genes may play key roles in response to abiotic stress. Moreover, we also conducted gene interaction network of the GhCAT proteins. Silencing GhCAT10D expression decreased the resistance of cotton to salt stress because of a decrease in the accumulation of NO and proline.
Our results indicated that CAT genes might be related with salt tolerance in cotton and lay a foundation for further study on the regulation mechanism of CAT genes in cationic amino acids transporting and distribution responsing to abiotic stress.
阳离子氨基酸转运蛋白（CAT）在维持代谢功能方面发挥着不可或缺的作用，例如通过介导植物细胞中阳离子氨基酸的双向运输，来合成蛋白质和一氧化氮（NO）、多胺的生物合成以及氨基酸的流动。
本研究对棉花的四个物种中的 79 个 CAT 基因进行了全基因组和综合研究。基因定位表明，CAT 基因位于质膜上。通过系统发育分析，将 79 个 CAT 基因分为 7 个亚家族。基因结构分析表明，来自同一亚组的 CAT 基因具有相似的遗传结构和外显子数量。RNA-seq 和实时 PCR 表明，大多数 GhCAT 基因受到盐、干旱、寒冷和热胁迫的诱导。GhCAT 启动子的顺式元件分析表明，GhCAT 基因启动子主要含有植物激素响应元件和非生物胁迫元件，这表明 GhCAT 基因可能在应对非生物胁迫中发挥关键作用。此外，我们还构建了 GhCAT 蛋白的基因互作网络。GhCAT10D 表达的沉默降低了棉花的耐盐性，因为 NO 和脯氨酸的积累减少。
我们的结果表明，CAT 基因可能与棉花的耐盐性有关，为进一步研究 CAT 基因在阳离子氨基酸运输和分布响应非生物胁迫中的调节机制奠定了基础。
