AUTHOR=Wen Tianyang , Xu Xiao , Ren Aiping , Zhao Ge , Wu Jiahe 

TITLE=Genome-wide identification of terpenoid synthase family genes in Gossypium hirsutum and functional dissection of its subfamily cadinene synthase A in gossypol synthesis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1162237

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1162237

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Plant <italic>terpenoid synthase (TPS)</italic> family genes participate in metabolite synthesis, hormones, gossypol, etc. Here, we genome-widely identified <italic>TPS</italic> family genes in 12 land plant species. Four hundred and thirty TPS-related genes were divided into seven subfamilies. The <italic>TPS-c</italic> in Bryophytes was suggested to be the earliest subfamily, followed by the <italic>TPS-e/f</italic> and <italic>TPS-h</italic> presence in ferns. <italic>TPS-a</italic>, the largest number of genes, was derived from monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants. Collinearity analysis showed that 38 out of the 76 <italic>TPS</italic> genes in <italic>G. hirsutum</italic> were collinear within <italic>G. arboreum</italic> and <italic>G. raimondii</italic>. Twenty-one <italic>GhTPS-a</italic> genes belong to the cadinene synthase (<italic>GhCDN)</italic> subfamily and were divided into five groups, A, B, C, D, and E. The special <italic>cis</italic>-elements in the promoters of 12 <italic>GhCDN-A</italic> genes suggested that the JA and ethylene signaling pathways may be involved in their expression regulation. When 12 <italic>GhCDN-A</italic> genes were simultaneously silenced through virus-induced gene silencing, the glandular color of <italic>GhCDN-A</italic>-silenced plants was lighter than that of the control, supported by a gossypol content decrease based on HPLC testing, suggesting that <italic>GhCDN-A</italic> subgroup genes participate in gossypol synthesis. According to RNA-seq analysis, gossypol synthesis-related genes and disease-resistant genes in the glandular variety exhibited upregulated expression compared to the glandless variety, whereas hormone signaling-related genes were downregulated. All in all, these results revealed plant <italic>TPS</italic> gene evolution rules and dissected the <italic>TPS</italic> subfamily, <italic>GhCDN-A</italic>, function in gossypol synthesis in cotton.</p>