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Genome-wide identification of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) reveals GhMPK6 involved in fiber elongation

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Abstract

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are important in regulating plant development as well as stress response. In this study, we genome-widely identified 56 MAPK genes in upland cotton. These MAPK genes unequally distribute on 22 chromosomes of cotton genome, but no MAPK gene is located on At_Chr6, Dt_Chr6, At_Chr13 and Dt_Chr13. The exons and introns in GhMAPK gene family vary widely at the position, number and length. Furthermore, GhMAPK family can be divided into 4 groups (A, B, C and D), and the TEY type of T-loop exists in three groups (A, B and C), but the TDY type of T-loop is only in group D. Further study revealed that some GhMAPK genes (including GhMPK6) are preferentially expressed in elongating fibers. GhMPK6 maintains a high phosphorylation level in elongating fibers, and its phosphorylation was enhanced in fibers by phytohormones brassinosteroid (BR), ethylene and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Additionally, GhMPK6 could interact with GhMKK2-2 and GhMKK4, suggesting that GhMKK2-2/4-GhMPK6 module may be involved in phosphorylation of its downstream proteins for regulating fiber elongation of cotton.

Key message

56 MAPK genes were identified in upland cotton genome, and unequally distribute on 22 chromosomes of cotton genome. They can be divided into 4 groups, and the TEY type of T-loop exists in A, B and C groups, but the TDY type of T-loop is only in group D. Furthermore, GhMPK6 may be involved in phosphorylation of its downstream proteins for regulating fiber elongation of cotton.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFD0100505), Project of Transgenic Research from the Ministry of Agriculture of China (Grant No. 2016ZX08009003-004), and National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (Grant No. 31871667).

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  1. Yi-Hao Chen and Na-Na Wang have contributed equally to this work.

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  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Yi-Hao Chen, Na-Na Wang, Jing-Bo Zhang, Yong Zheng & Xue-Bao Li

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  1. Yi-Hao Chen
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XBL conceived and designed the research; YHC, NNW, JBZ and YZ, performed the experiments; YHC, NNW and XBL analyzed data and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Xue-Bao Li.

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Chen, YH., Wang, NN., Zhang, JB. et al. Genome-wide identification of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) reveals GhMPK6 involved in fiber elongation. Plant Mol Biol 103, 391–407 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-020-00999-9

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