AUTHOR=Sun Chendong , Yu Li , Zhang Shuojun , Gu Qijuan , Wang Mei 

TITLE=Genome-wide characterization of the SHORT INTER-NODES/STYLISH and Shi-Related Sequence family in Gossypium hirsutum and functional identification of GhSRS21 under salt stress

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.1078083

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.1078083

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Saline and drought stress are significant factors that caused crop growth inhibition and yield decline. SHORT INTERNODES/STYLISH (SHI/STY) and SHI-RELATED SEQUENCE (SRS) transcription factors are specific to plants and share a conserved RING-like zinc-finger domain (CX2CX7CX4CX2C2X6C). However, the functions of SHI/STY and SRS genes in cotton responses to abiotic stresses remain unclear. In this study, 26 GhSRSs were identified in Gossypium hirsutum, which further divided into three groups. Phylogenetic analysis of 88 SRSs from P. patens, S. moellemdorffii, O. sativa, T. cacao, Z. mays, A. thailand, G. arboreum, G. raimondii and G. hirsutum revealed independent evolutionary pattern in some of SRSs derived from monocots. Conserved domain analysis and subcellular location predication of GhSRSs suggested all of them only contained the DUF702 domain and belonged to nucleus-localized transcriptions except for the GhSRS22. Furthermore, synteny analysis showed structural variation on chromosomes during the process of cotton polyploidization. Subsequently, expression pattern of GhSRS family members in response to salt and drought stress were analyzed in G. hirsutum and identified a salt stress-inducible gene GhSRS21. The GhSRS21 was proved to localize in the nuclear and silencing it in G. hirsutum increased the cotton resistance to salt using the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) system. Finally, our transcriptomics data revealed that GhSRS21 negatively controlled cotton salt tolerance by regulating the balance between ROS production and scavenging. These results will increase our understanding of the SRS gene family in cotton and provide the candidate resistant gene for cotton breeding.