Transcriptome Reveals the Molecular Mechanism of the Gene from the Desert Moss Conferring Resistance to Salt Stress in Cotton.

The desert moss has proven to be an excellent plant material for mining resistance genes. The ( gene from has been shown to confer tolerance to salt and drought, but it is unclear how the transgene regulates tolerance to abiotic stresses in cotton. In the present work, we studied the physiological and transcriptome analyses of non-transgenic (NT) and transgenic cotton (L96) at 0 day, 2 days, and 5 days after salt stress. Through intergroup comparisons and a weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA), we found that there were significant differences between NT and L96 cotton in the plant hormone, Ca, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways as well as for photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism. Overexpression of significantly increased the expression of stress-related genes in L96 compared to NT cotton under both normal growth and salt stress conditions. These data suggest that the transgene can scavenge more reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vivo relative to NT cotton and improve cotton resistance to salt stress by increasing the expression of stress-responsive genes, responding quickly to stress stimuli, enhancing photosynthesis and improving carbohydrate metabolism. Therefore, is a promising candidate gene to improve resistance to salt stress, and the application of this gene in cotton provides new insights into molecular plant breeding.