Project description:Cotton is the most important economic crop that provides natural fibre and by-products such as oil and protein. The global gene expression could provide insight into the biological processes underlying growth and development, which involving suites of genes expressed with temporal and spatial controls by regulatory networks. Improvement of cotton fiber in yield and quality is the main goal for molecular breeding, but many previous research have been largely focused on identifying genes only in fibres, so that we ignore seed which may play an important role in the development of fibers. In this study, we constructed and systematically analyzed twenty-one strand-specific RNA-Seq libraries on Gossypium hirsutum L. covering different tissues, organs and development stages, of which approximately 970 million reads were generated. In total, 5,6754 transcripts derived from 2,9541 unigenes were obtained to provide a global view of gene expression for cotton development. Hierarchical clustering of transcriptional profiles suggests that transcriptomes among tissues or organs corresponded well to their developmental relatedness. The organ (tissue)-specific gene expressions were investigated efficiently and provided further insight into the dynamic programming of the transcriptome, in particularly for coordinating development between fiber cell and seed (ovule). We identified series of transcription factors and seed-specific genes, which as the candidate genes should help elucidate key mechanisms and regulatory networks that underlie fiber and seed development. This report identified comprehensive transcriptome changes in different stage of cotton development and will serves as a valuable genome-wide transcriptome resource for cotton breeding. Examination of transcriptome of cotton
Project description:Cotton is the most important economic crop that provides natural fibre and by-products such as oil and protein. The global gene expression could provide insight into the biological processes underlying growth and development, which involving suites of genes expressed with temporal and spatial controls by regulatory networks. Improvement of cotton fiber in yield and quality is the main goal for molecular breeding, but many previous research have been largely focused on identifying genes only in fibres, so that we ignore seed which may play an important role in the development of fibers. In this study, we constructed and systematically analyzed twenty-one strand-specific RNA-Seq libraries on Gossypium hirsutum L. covering different tissues, organs and development stages, of which approximately 970 million reads were generated. In total, 5,6754 transcripts derived from 2,9541 unigenes were obtained to provide a global view of gene expression for cotton development. Hierarchical clustering of transcriptional profiles suggests that transcriptomes among tissues or organs corresponded well to their developmental relatedness. The organ (tissue)-specific gene expressions were investigated efficiently and provided further insight into the dynamic programming of the transcriptome, in particularly for coordinating development between fiber cell and seed (ovule). We identified series of transcription factors and seed-specific genes, which as the candidate genes should help elucidate key mechanisms and regulatory networks that underlie fiber and seed development. This report identified comprehensive transcriptome changes in different stage of cotton development and will serves as a valuable genome-wide transcriptome resource for cotton breeding.
Project description:DNA methylation is essential for plant and animal development. In plants, methylation occurs at CG, CHG, and CHH (H = A, C or T) sites via distinct pathways. Cotton is an allotetraploid consisting of two progenitor genomes. Each cotton fiber is a rapidly-elongating cell derived from the ovule epidermis, but the molecular basis for this developmental transition is unknown. Here we analyzed methylome, transcriptome, and small RNAome and revealed distinct changes in CHH methylation during ovule and fiber development. In ovules, CHH hypermethylation in promoters correlated positively with siRNAs, inducing RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM), and up-regulation of ovule-preferred genes. In fibers, the ovule-derived cells generated additional heterochromatic CHH hypermethylation independent of RdDM, which repressed transposable elements (TEs) and nearby genes including fiber-related genes. Furthermore, CHG and CHH methylation in genic regions contributed to homoeolog expression bias in ovules and fibers. Inhibiting DNA methylation using 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine in cultured ovules has reduced fiber cell number and length, suggesting a potential role for DNA methylation in fiber development. Thus, RdDM-dependent methylation in promoters and RdDM-independent methylation in TEs and nearby genes could act as a double-lock feedback mechanism to mediate gene and TE expression, potentiating the transition from epidermal to fiber cells during ovule and seed development.