Systematic analysis of Histidine photosphoto transfer gene family in cotton and functional characterization in response to salt and around tolerance

Abstract Background Phosphorylation regulated by the two-component system (TCS) is a very important approach signal transduction in most of living organisms. Histidine phosphotransfer (HP) is one of the important members of the TCS system. Members of the HP gene family have implications in plant stresses tolerance and have been deeply studied in several crops. However, upland cotton is still lacking with complete systematic examination of the HP gene family. Results A total of 103 HP gene family members were identified. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogeny of HPs distributed them into 7 clades that contain the highly conserved amino acid residue “XHQXKGSSXS”, similar to the Arabidopsis HP protein. Gene duplication relationship showed the expansion of HP gene family being subjected with whole-genome duplication (WGD) in cotton. Varying expression profiles of HPs illustrates their multiple roles under altering environments particularly the abiotic stresses. Analysis is of transcriptome data signifies the important roles played by HP genes against abiotic stresses. Moreover, protein regulatory network analysis and VIGS mediated functional approaches of two HP genes (GhHP23 and GhHP27) supports their predictor roles in salt and drought stress tolerance. Conclusions This study provides new bases for systematic examination of HP genes in upland cotton, which formulated the genetic makeup for their future survey and examination of their potential use in cotton production

Changes in terpene biosynthesis and submergence tolerance in cotton

Abstract Background Flooding is among the most severe abiotic stresses in plant growth and development. The mechanism of submergence tolerance of cotton in response to submergence stress is unknown. Results The transcriptome results showed that a total of 6,893 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were discovered under submergence stress. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis showed that DEGs were involved in various stress or stimulus responses. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis indicated that DEGs related to plant hormone signal transduction, starch and sucrose metabolism, glycolysis and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites were regulated by submergence stress. Eight DEGs related to ethylene signaling and 3 ethylene synthesis genes were identified in the hormone signal transduction. For respiratory metabolism, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH, GH_A02G0728) and pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC, GH_D09G1778) were significantly upregulated but 6-phosphofructokinase (PFK, GH_D05G0280), phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK, GH_A01G0945 and GH_D01G0967) and sucrose synthase genes (SUS, GH_A06G0873 and GH_D06G0851) were significantly downregulated in the submergence treatment. Terpene biosynthetic pathway-related genes in the secondary metabolites were regulated in submergence stress. Conclusions Regulation of terpene biosynthesis by respiratory metabolism may play a role in enhancing the tolerance of cotton to submergence under flooding. Our findings showed that the mevalonate pathway, which occurs in the cytoplasm of the terpenoid backbone biosynthesis pathway (ko00900), may be the main response to submergence stress

RSF-1 overexpression determines cancer progression and drug resistance in cervical cancer

Background: Remodeling spacing factor 1 (RSF-1/HBXAP) has been linked to a variety of cancer types, however, its roles and the therapeutic potential are not clear in cervical cancer. Methods: RSF-1 expression in cancer tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining followed by statistical analysis with SPSS. Anti-RSF-1 studies were performed by treating cells with specific siRNA or a dominant mutant form (RSF-D4). Results: RSF-1 expression correlates with cancer progression that strongly-positive staining can be found in 67.7% carcinomas and 66.7% CIN lesions, but none in normal tissues. Such overexpression also associated with increased tumor size, poor differentiation, higher nodal metastasis and advanced clinical stages. Kaplan– Meier analysis confirmed that cancer patients with high RSF-1 levels exhibited a significantly shorter survival time than those with low RSF-1 levels. Downregulation of RSF-1 by siRNA silencing or RSF-D4 reduced cell growth and increased drug sensitivity toward paclitaxel treatment in HeLa cells. Conclusions: RSF-1 participates in the tumor progression of cervical cancer and could be considered as an early prognostic marker for cancer development and clinical outcome. Therapies based on anti-RSF-1 activity may be beneficial for patients with RSF-1 overexpression in their tumors