Global identification of natural antisense transcripts in Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense under chilling stress

Shouli Feng; Xuan Long; Mengtao Gao; Yongyan Zhao; Xueying Guan

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107362

Global identification of natural antisense transcripts in Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense under chilling stress

iScience. 2023 Jul 13;26(8):107362. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107362. eCollection 2023 Aug 18.

Authors

Shouli Feng^{1

2}, Xuan Long¹, Mengtao Gao³, Yongyan Zhao^{1

4}, Xueying Guan^{1

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, The Advanced Seed Institute, Plant Precision Breeding Academy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 300058, China.
² Xianghu Laboratory, Hangzhou 311231, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, College of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
⁴ Hainan Institute of Zhejiang University, Building 11, Yonyou Industrial Park, Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City, Yazhou District, Sanya, Hainan 572025, China.
⁵ Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Lab, Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City, Yazhou District, Sanya, Hainan 572025, China.

Abstract

Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) in model plants have been recognized as important regulators of gene expression under abiotic stresses. However, the functional roles of NATs in crops under low temperature are still unclear. Here, we identified 815 and 689 NATs from leaves of Gossypium hirsutum and G. barbadense under chilling stress. Among those, 224 NATs were identified as interspecific homologs between the two species. The correlation coefficients for expression of NATs and their cognate sense genes (CSG) were 0.43 and 0.37 in G. hirsutum and G. barbadense, respectively. Furthermore, expression of interspecific NATs and CSGs alike was highly consistent under chilling stress with correlation coefficients of 0.90-0.91. Four cold-associated NATs were selected for functional validation using virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). Our results suggest that CAN1 engage in the molecular regulation of chilling stress by regulating SnRK2.8 expression. This highly conserved NAT have valuable potential for applications in breeding cold-tolerant cotton.

Keywords: Agricultural science; Genomics; Plant Biology.