Leaf Hairiness Important in Reducing Cotton Leaf Grade

Abstract Apolygus lucorum (Meyer-Dür) (Hemiptera: Miridae) tends to feed on young plant tissues. To explore the relationship between stylet probing behaviors of adult A. lucorum and conditions of cotton leaves, we conducted an experiment using electropenetrography (EPG). Behaviors were recorded on four cotton varieties, in relation to thickness and biochemical traits of differently-aged leaves. Cotton leaf age had a significant effect on the probing behavior of A. lucorum but cotton variety did not. One-day-old leaves of A. lucorum received the highest mean number of stylet probes (penetrations) per insect, and longest mean durations per insect of combined stylet probing or its components, cell rupture and ingestion behaviors. All of the leaf traits (thickness and biochemical substances) were similar among these four cotton varieties. Leaf thickness had a significantly negative effect on the same four variables above. Gossypol and tannin also had a negative impact on combined probing duration. Redundancy analysis showed that the four EPG variables were closely related to nutrient substances (amino acids, sugar, and water) while they had the opposite relationship with plant defense substances (gossypol and tannin). On cotton in the seedling stages, A. lucorum fed more readily on the youngest, thinnest leaves in our no-choice EPG experiments. Nutrients and chemical resistance substances determined the probing duration of A. lucorum. Our findings can contribute to better understanding of patterns of feeding and host consumption by A. lucorum, ultimately improving cotton resistance to A. lucorum.

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Functional examination of lncRNAs in allotetraploid Gossypium hirsutum

BMC Genomics ◽

10.1186/s12864-021-07771-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Luyao Wang ◽

Jin Han ◽

Kening Lu ◽

Menglin Li ◽

Mengtao Gao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Abiotic Stresses ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Leaf Tissue ◽

Evolutionary Model ◽

Cotton Leaf ◽

Functional Screening ◽

Virus Induced Gene Silencing ◽

Individual Gene ◽

Cotton Species ◽

Allotetraploid Cotton

Abstract Background An evolutionary model using diploid and allotetraploid cotton species identified 80 % of non-coding transcripts in allotetraploid cotton as being uniquely activated in comparison with its diploid ancestors. The function of the lncRNAs activated in allotetraploid cotton remain largely unknown. Results We employed transcriptome analysis to examine the relationship between the lncRNAs and mRNAs of protein coding genes (PCGs) in cotton leaf tissue under abiotic stresses. LncRNA expression was preferentially associated with that of the flanking PCGs. Selected highly-expressed lncRNA candidates (n = 111) were subjected to a functional screening pilot test in which virus-induced gene silencing was integrated with abiotic stress treatment. From this low-throughput screen, we obtained candidate lncRNAs relating to plant height and tolerance to drought and other abiotic stresses. Conclusions Low-throughput screen is an effective method to find functional lncRNA for further study. LncRNAs were more active in abiotic stresses than PCG expression, especially temperature stress. LncRNA XLOC107738 may take a cis-regulatory role in response to environmental stimuli. The degree to which lncRNAs are constitutively expressed may impact expression patterns and functions on the individual gene level rather than in genome-wide aggregate.

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Implication of the Whitefly Protein Vps Twenty Associated 1 (Vta1) in the Transmission of Cotton Leaf Curl Multan Virus

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9020304 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 304

Author(s):

Yao Chi ◽

Li-Long Pan ◽

Shu-Sheng Liu ◽

Shahid Mansoor ◽

Xiao-Wei Wang

Keyword(s):

Coat Protein ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Cotton Leaf ◽

Yeast Two Hybrid ◽

Yeast Two Hybrid System ◽

Vacuolar Protein ◽

Leaf Curl Disease ◽

Two Hybrid ◽

Asia Ii 1 ◽

Leaf Curl

Cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMuV) is one of the major casual agents of cotton leaf curl disease. Previous studies show that two indigenous whitefly species of the Bemisia tabaci complex, Asia II 1 and Asia II 7, are able to transmit CLCuMuV, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the transmission are poorly known. In this study, we attempted to identify the whitefly proteins involved in CLCuMuV transmission. First, using a yeast two-hybrid system, we identified 54 candidate proteins of Asia II 1 that putatively can interact with the coat protein of CLCuMuV. Second, we examined interactions between the CLCuMuV coat protein and several whitefly proteins, including vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein (Vps) twenty associated 1 (Vta1). Third, using RNA interference, we found that Vta1 positively regulated CLCuMuV acquisition and transmission by the Asia II 1 whitefly. In addition, we showed that the interaction between the CLCuMuV coat protein and Vta1 from the whitefly Middle East-Asia Minor (MEAM1), a poor vector of CLCuMuV, was much weaker than that between Asia II 1 Vta1 and the CLCuMuV coat protein. Silencing of Vta1 in MEAM1 did not affect the quantity of CLCuMuV acquired by the whitefly. Taken together, our results suggest that Vta1 may play an important role in the transmission of CLCuMuV by the whitefly.

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