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In mapping populations segregating for many loci, the large amount of variation among genotypes often masks small-effect quantitative trait loci (QTL). This problem can be reduced by development of populations with fewer chromosome segments segregating. Here, we report early QTL detection in reciprocal advanced backcross populations from crosses between elite Gossypium hirsutum L. 'Acala Maxxa' (GH) and G. barbadense L. 'Pima S6' (GB). A total of 297 BCF and BCF progeny rows-127 segregating for GB chromosome segments in GH background and 170 segregating for GH chromosome segments in GB background-were evaluated in three environments. Totals of 3186 and 3026 polymorphic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GH and GB backgrounds, respectively, were identified and used for trait mapping. Small-effect QTL (10% variance explained) made up 87 and 100% of QTL in GH and GB backgrounds, respectively. In both species, favorable alleles were found with effects being masked or neutralized by unfavorable alleles, with greater scope for improvement of GH than GB by introgressive breeding. A total of three stable QTL-two in GH background for fiber elongation (ELO) and micronaire (MIC) and one in GB background for upper-half mean length (UHM)-were identified in two out of three environments. Curiously, only four QTL-three for UHM and one for ELO-showed the expected opposite effects in reciprocal backgrounds, perhaps reflecting the combined consequences of epistasis, small phenotypic effects, and low coverage of some genomic regions. Along with new information for marker-assisted breeding, this study adds to knowledge that can be used to unravel complex genetic networks governing fiber quality traits.

Introgressive breeding to introduce both obvious variation into a gene pool, and to unmask cryptic variation masked by close linkage or epistatic interactions, has repeatedly been attempted to improve fiber traits in Gossypium hirsutum by employing Gossypium barbadense as a donor parent. This study reports genetic variation for fiber quality traits in reciprocal advanced backcross populations between G. hirsutum cultivar Acala Maxxa and G. barbadense cultivar Pima S6. Micronaire (MIC), elongation (ELO), strength (STR), upper half mean length (UHM), and uniformity index (UI) showed significant genotypic variance, albeit different in the respective backgrounds for all traits except UI. Different levels of variation among genotypes for the same traits in reciprocal backgrounds suggest different levels of epistatic interactions, a hypothesis supported by a significant difference in transgressive segregants in Acala Maxxa and Pima S6 backgrounds. In Acala Maxxa background, 18, 18, 7, and 3 genotypes had significantly better MIC, ELO, STR and UHM, respectively, than Acala Maxxa. In Pima S6 background 10, 5, 8, and 11 genotypes had significantly better MIC, ELO, STR, and UHM, respectively, than Pima S6. Increased genetic variation and improved fiber quality in both backgrounds appears attainable using reciprocal introgression; however, the number of genotypes with simultaneous improvement for multiple fiber quality traits was higher in Acala Maxxa than Pima S6 background. Reciprocal populations provide a platform to study cytoplasmic effects on genetic variation and heritability of fiber quality traits, and estimate the size of base populations required to obtain genotypes with genetic gain by backcross breeding.

Alternative splicing (AS) is a crucial regulatory mechanism in eukaryotes, which acts by greatly increasing transcriptome diversity. The extent and complexity of AS has been revealed in model plants using high-throughput next-generation sequencing. However, this technique is less effective in accurately identifying transcript isoforms in polyploid species because of the high sequence similarity between coexisting subgenomes. Here we characterize AS in the polyploid species cotton. Using Pacific Biosciences single-molecule long-read isoform sequencing (Iso-Seq), we developed an integrated pipeline for Iso-Seq transcriptome data analysis (https://github.com/Nextomics/pipeline-for-isoseq). We identified 176 849 full-length transcript isoforms from 44 968 gene models and updated gene annotation. These data led us to identify 15 102 fibre-specific AS events and estimate that c. 51.4% of homoeologous genes produce divergent isoforms in each subgenome. We reveal that AS allows differential regulation of the same gene by miRNAs at the isoform level. We also show that nucleosome occupancy and DNA methylation play a role in defining exons at the chromatin level. This study provides new insights into the complexity and regulation of AS, and will enhance our understanding of AS in polyploid species. Our methodology for Iso-Seq data analysis will be a useful reference for the study of AS in other species.

Plant expansins are a group of extracellular proteins thought to affect the quality of cotton fibers. Previous expression profile analysis revealed that six Expansin A genes are present in cotton, of which two ( GhExp1 and GhExp2 ) produce transcripts that are specific to the developing cotton fiber. To identify the phenotypic function of Exp2 , and to determine whether nucleotide variation among alleles of Exp2 affects fiber quality, candidate gene association mapping was conducted. Gene-specific primers were designed to amplify the Exp2 gene. By amplicon sequencing, the nucleotide diversity of Exp2 was investigated across 92 accessions (including 7 Gossypium arboreum , 74 Gossypium hirsutum , and 11 Gossypium barbadense accessions) with different fiber qualities. Twenty-six SNPs and seven InDels including 14 from the coding region of Exp2 were detected, forming twelve distinct haplotypes in the cotton collection. Among the 14 SNPs in the coding region, five were missense mutations and nine were synonymous nucleotide changes. The average SNP/InDel per nucleotide ratio was 2.61% (one SNP per 39 bp), with 1.81 and 3.87% occurring in coding and non-coding regions, respectively. Nucleotide and haplotype diversity across the entire Exp2 region was 0.00603 ( π ) and 0.844, respectively, and diversity in non-coding regions was higher than that in coding regions. For linkage disequilibrium (LD), the mean r 2 value for all polymorphism loci pairs was 0.48, and LD did not decay over 748 bp. Based on 132 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci evenly covering 26 chromosomes, the population structure was estimated, and the accessions were divided into seven groups that agreed well with their genomic origin and evolutionary history. A general linear model was used to calculate the Exp2 -wide diversity–trait associations of 5 fiber quality traits, considering population structure (Q). Four SNPs in Exp2 were associated with at least one of the fiber quality traits, but not with fiber elongation. The highest positive effect on UHML and STR was observed for haplotype Hap_6 of Exp2 . There was a significant association of Exp2 with fiber quality traits. There were many haplotypes in the Exp2 region, of which the most favorable was Hap_6. The association between nucleotide diversity and these fiber traits sheds light on the gene's potential contribution to the improvement of fiber quality, and should be useful to facilitate MAS programs in cotton.

The APETALA2/ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF) transcription factor superfamily is known to regulate diverse processes of plant development and stress responses. We conducted a genome-wide analysis of the AP2/ERF gene in Gossypium arboreum and G. raimondii. Using RPSBLAST and HMMsearch, a total of 271 and 269 AP2/ERF genes were identified in the G. arboreum and G. raimondii genomes, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis classified diploid Gossypium spp AP2/ERF genes into 4 families and 16 subfamilies. Orthologous genes predominated the terminal branch of the phylogenetic tree. Physical mapping showed at least 30% of AP2/ERF genes clustered together. A high level of intra- and inter-species collinearity involving AP2/ERF genes was observed, indicating common (before species divergence) or parallel (after species divergence) segmental duplications, along with tandem duplications, resulting in the species-specific expansion of AP2/ERF genes in diploid Gossypium species. Motif analyses of the AP2/ERF proteins revealed that motif arrangements were highly diverse among subfamilies, but shared by orthologous gene pairs. An examination of nucleotide divergence of AP2/ERF coding regions identified small and non-significant sequence differences among orthologs. Expression profiling of AP2/ERF orthologous gene pairs showed similar abundance levels of orthologous copies between G. arboreum and G. raimondii. Thus, cotton species possess abundant and diverse AP2/ERF genes, resulting from tandem and segmental duplications. Protein and nucleotide sequence and mRNA expression analyses revealed symmetrical evolution, indicating that most AP2/ ERF genes may not have undergone significant biochemical and morphological divergence between sister species. Our study provides detailed insights into the evolutionary characteristics and functional importance of AP2/ERF genes, and could aid in the genetic improvement of agriculturally significant crops in this genus.

In mapping populations segregating for many loci, the large amount of variation among genotypes often masks small-effect quantitative trait loci (QTL). This problem can be reduced by development of populations with fewer chromosome segments segregating. Here, we report early QTL detection in reciprocal advanced backcross populations from crosses between elite Gossypium hirsutum L. ‘Acala Maxxa’ (GH) and G. barbadense L. ‘Pima S6’ (GB). A total of 297 BCF and BCF progeny rows—127 segregating for GB chromosome segments in GH background and 170 segregating for GH chromosome segments in GB background—were evaluated in three environments. Totals of 3186 and 3026 polymorphic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GH and GB backgrounds, respectively, were identified and used for trait mapping. Small-effect QTL (

The highly conserved TIFY domain is included in the TIFY protein family of transcription factors, which is important in plant development. Here, 28 TIFY family genes were identified in the Gossypium raimondii genome and classified into JAZ (15 genes), ZML (8), PPD (3), and TIFY (2). The normal (TIF[F/Y]XG) motif was dominant in the TIFY family, excluding the ZML subfamily, in which TLSFXG was prevalent. TIFY family genes were unevenly distributed in the G. raimondii genome, with TIFY clusters present on chromosome 9. Phylogenetic analysis indicated abundant variations in the G. raimondii TIFY family, which were most closely related to those in Theobroma cacao among 5 species. Exon-intron organization and intron phases were homologous within each subfamily, correlating with their phylogeny. Intra-species synteny analyses indicated that genomic duplication contributed to the expansion of the TIFY family. Inter-species synteny analyses indicated that synteny regions involved in G. raimondii TIFY family genes were also present in the comparison of G. raimondii vs Arabidopsis thaliana or T. cacao, signifying that these genes had common ancestors and play the same or similar roles in biological processes. Greater synteny was present in the comparison of G. raimondii vs T. cacao than of G. raimondii vs A. thaliana. The expression patterns of TIFY family genes were characterized and most TIFY family genes were indicated to be involved in fiber development. Our study provides new data related to the evolution of TIFYs and their role as important regulators of transcription; these data can be useful for fiber development.

Background Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) are members of the NAD(P)+-dependent protein superfamily which catalyzes aliphatic and aromatic aldehyde oxidation to non-toxic carboxylic acids. ALDH genes may offer promise for improving plant adaptation to environmental stress. Recently, elucidated genome sequences of Gossypium raimondii provide a foundation for systematic identification and analysis of ALDH genes. To date, this has been accomplished for many plant species except G. raimondii. Results In this study, thirty unique ALDH sequences that code for 10 ALDH families were identified in the G. raimondii genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that ALDHs were split into six clades in G. raimondii, and ALDH proteins from the same families were clustered together. Phylogenetic relationships of ALDHs from 11 plant species suggest that ALDHs in G. raimondii shared the highest protein homology with ALDHs from poplar. Members within ALDH families possessed homologous exon–intron structures. Chromosomal distribution of ALDH did not occur evenly in the G. raimondii genome and many ALDH genes were involved in the syntenic region as documented by identification of physical locations among single chromosomes. In addition, syntenic analysis revealed that homologues of many G. raimondii ALDHs appeared in corresponding Arabidopsis and poplar syntenic blocks, indicating that these genes arose prior to G. raimondii, Arabidopsis and poplar speciation. Finally, based on gene expression analysis of microarray and RNA-seq, we can speculate that some G. raimondii ALDH genes might respond to drought or waterlogging stresses. Conclusion Genome-wide identification and analysis of the evolution and expression of ALDH genes in G. raimondii laid a foundation for studying this gene superfamily and offers new insights into the evolution history and speculated roles in Gossypium. These data can be used to inform functional genomic studies and molecular breeding in cotton.