Zong Zheng, Sun Xue, Chen Junchen, Yu Yuehua, Ni Zhiyong, Wang Yi
Xinjiang Key Laboratory for Ecological Adaptation and Evolution of Extreme Environment Organisms, College of Life Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, PR China.
College of Agronomy, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, PR China.
Plant Sci. 2025 Aug 19;360:112715. doi: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2025.112715.
ERD (early response to dehydration) genes are promptly upregulated under dehydration stress and are pivotal in plant development. Nonetheless, the precise impact of the ERD7 gene on the response of cotton to abiotic stress remains unclear. The physical and chemical characteristics, gene architecture, gene collinearity, and transcriptomic profiles were examined. Using bioinformatics techniques, we investigated the evolutionary relationships among the genes within the GbERD7 gene family of sea island cotton. The GbERD7 genes are unevenly distributed across the seven chromosomes of sea island cotton, with multiple gene duplications. The GbERD7 gene family was subjected to phylogenetic analysis, leading to the classification of its members into the SENA and SENB subfamilies. The expression of the GbERD7 genes was investigated in relation to heat, low-temperature, salt (NaCl), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatments. Some genes presented greater expression in specific organs and different periods of fiber development. The functional role of GbERD7g was subsequently investigated using molecular biological techniques. GbERD7g exhibited pronounced expression in sea island cotton leaves and was upregulated following exposure to PEG, NaCl, and ABA. Subcellular localization studies revealed that the GbERD7g protein is located within the nucleus as well as the plasma membrane of the cell. When the GbERD7g gene was silenced under drought and salt stress, the sea island cotton plants were significantly less resistant to drought and salinity and exhibited lower survival than the control plants. The proline levels, catalase activity, and superoxide dismutase activity were reduced, and the malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide levels were elevated. In addition, compared with those in the control plants, the expression of all three stress-responsive genes, namely, GbRD22, GbRD26, and GbCDPK1, was significantly lower in the mutant plants.
脱水早期响应（ERD）基因在脱水胁迫下迅速上调，对植物发育至关重要。然而，ERD7基因对棉花非生物胁迫响应的确切影响仍不清楚。研究了其理化特性、基因结构、基因共线性和转录组图谱。利用生物信息学技术，我们研究了海岛棉GbERD7基因家族内各基因之间的进化关系。GbERD7基因不均匀地分布在海岛棉的七条染色体上，存在多个基因重复。对GbERD7基因家族进行了系统发育分析，其成员被分为SENA和SENB亚家族。研究了GbERD7基因在热、低温、盐（NaCl）和聚乙二醇（PEG）处理下的表达情况。一些基因在特定器官和纤维发育的不同时期表现出更高的表达。随后利用分子生物学技术研究了GbERD7g的功能作用。GbERD7g在海岛棉叶片中表达明显，在暴露于PEG、NaCl和ABA后上调。亚细胞定位研究表明，GbERD7g蛋白位于细胞核以及细胞的质膜内。当GbERD7g基因在干旱和盐胁迫下沉默时，海岛棉植株对干旱和盐胁迫的抗性明显降低，存活率低于对照植株。脯氨酸水平、过氧化氢酶活性和超氧化物歧化酶活性降低，丙二醛和过氧化氢水平升高。此外，与对照植株相比，突变植株中三个胁迫响应基因GbRD22、GbRD26和GbCDPK1的表达均显著降低。
