Carpel-specific down-regulation of GhCKXs in cotton significantly enhances seed and fiber yield.

ABSTRACT: Cytokinin is considered to be an important driver of seed yield. To increase the yield of cotton while avoiding the negative consequences caused by constitutive overproduction of cytokinin, we down-regulated specifically the carpel genes for cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX), a key negative regulator of cytokinin levels, in transgenic cotton. The carpel-specific down-regulation of CKXs significantly enhanced cytokinin levels in the carpels. The elevated cytokinin promoted the expression of carpel- and ovule-development-associated genes, GhSTK2, GhAG1, and GhSHP, boosting ovule formation and thus producing more seeds in the ovary. Field experiments showed that the carpel-specific increase of cytokinin significantly increased both seed yield and fiber yield of cotton, without resulting i

SUBMITTER: Zeng J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9629787 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature