Miao Pengfei, Zhang Huan, Xu Yifan, Zhang Ruowen, Hao Yunfei, Song Guoli, Liu Ji
National Nanfan Research Institute (Sanya), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Sanya, China.
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2025 Jul 22;16:1645239. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1645239. eCollection 2025.
Cotton is a crucial fiber and oil crop, playing a significant role in the textile and food industries. Its yield heavily relies on photosynthesis, a process that primarily occurs in the leaves. Consequently, leaf morphology stands as a vital agronomic trait in cotton breeding. However, research on the molecular mechanisms underlying cotton leaf morphogenesis remains relatively limited. Here we identified a curly leaf mutant () in by ethyl methylsulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis. The genetic analysis revealed that the curly leaf trait in this mutant is a semi-dominant characteristic controlled by a single gene. The map-based cloning of the locus showed a single-nucleotide mutation from G to A at the 301st positions in protein (), which resulted in an amino acid substitution from valine (V) to isoleucine (I). After silencing through virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technology in mutant, the leaves exhibited a flattened phenotype, indicating that is a key gene regulating leaf curling in cotton. Comparative transcriptomic RNA-Seq analysis revealed significant changes in the expression levels of most auxin-related genes, suggesting that the mutation disrupts auxin signaling transduction. These findings establish a foundation for further functional studies of this gene and provide research strategies for leaf morphology improvement.
棉花是一种重要的纤维和油料作物，在纺织和食品工业中发挥着重要作用。其产量严重依赖光合作用，该过程主要发生在叶片中。因此，叶片形态是棉花育种中的一个重要农艺性状。然而，关于棉花叶片形态发生的分子机制的研究仍然相对有限。在这里，我们通过甲基磺酸乙酯（EMS）诱变在[具体品种名称]中鉴定出一个卷叶突变体（[突变体名称]）。遗传分析表明，该突变体的卷叶性状是由单个基因控制的半显性特征。对[基因名称]基因座的图位克隆显示，在[蛋白质名称]蛋白的第301位发生了从G到A的单核苷酸突变，这导致了从缬氨酸（V）到异亮氨酸（I）的氨基酸替换。通过病毒诱导基因沉默（VIGS）技术在[突变体名称]突变体中沉默[基因名称]后，叶片表现出扁平的表型，表明[基因名称]是调控棉花叶片卷曲的关键基因。比较转录组RNA-Seq分析揭示了大多数生长素相关基因表达水平的显著变化，表明该突变破坏了生长素信号转导。这些发现为该基因的进一步功能研究奠定了基础，并为叶片形态改良提供了研究策略。
