Phenomics and transcriptomics analyses reveal deposition of suberin and lignin in the short fiber cell walls produced from a wild cotton species and two mutants

Authors: Kim, Hee-Jin; Liu, Yongliang; Thyssen, Gregory; Naoumkina, Marina; Frelichowski, James - Jim

Submitted to: PLOS ONE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/22/2023
Publication Date: 3/9/2023
Citation: Kim, H.J., Liu, Y., Thyssen, G.N., Naoumkina, M.A., Frelichowski, J.E. 2023. Phenomics and transcriptomics analyses reveal deposition of suberin and lignin in the short fiber cell walls produced from a wild cotton species and two mutants. PLOS ONE. 18. Article e0282799. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282799.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282799

Interpretive Summary: Cotton fiber length is a major property determining the quality and commercial value of cotton. To understand common molecular mechanisms regulating fiber elongation, we compared the short cotton fibers of a wild species and two mutants producing short fibers with the long cotton fibers of three cultivated cottons. Comparisons of chemical compositions and gene expression profiles commonly showed that lignin and suberin are specifically associated with the short fiber phenotype. The hydrophobic suberin layers associated with lignin in fiber cell walls may block the transport of water and sugars from cotton ovules to fiber cells, which is required for elongating cotton fibers. The results suggest a common mechanism reducing fiber elongation processes in wild cotton species and short fiber mutants, and provide insight on how suberin and lignin may affect cotton fiber quality. Understanding of the common mechanism regulating fiber elongation may help cotton scientists improving cotton fiber length and quality.

Technical Abstract: Fiber length is one of the major properties determining the quality and commercial value of cotton. To understand the mechanisms regulating fiber length, genetic variations of cotton species and mutants producing short fibers have been compared with cultivated cottons generating long and normal fibers. However, their phenomic variations other than fiber length have not been characterized well. Therefore, we compared physical and chemical properties of the short fibers with the long fibers. Fiber characteristics were compared in two sets: 1) wild diploid Gossypium raimondii Ulbrich (short fibers) with cultivated diploid G. arboreum L and tetraploid G. hirsutum L. (long fibers); 2) G. hirsutum short fiber mutants Ligon-lintless 1 (Li1) and 2 (Li2) with their near isogenic line (NIL), DP-5690 (long fibers). Chemical analyses showed that the short fibers commonly consisted of greater non-cellulosic components, including lignin and suberin, than the long fibers. Comparative transcriptomic analyses also identified up-regulation of the genes related to suberin and lignin biosynthesis in the short fibers. Our results may provide insight on how high levels of suberin and lignin in cell walls can affect cotton fiber length. The approaches combining phenomics and transcriptomics analyses of multiple sets of cotton fibers sharing a common phenotype would facilitate identifying genes and common pathways that significantly influence cotton fiber properties.