Cloning and Expression Analysis of a Brassinosteroid Biosynthetic Enzyme Gene, GhDWF1, from Cotton (Gossypium hirsuturm L.)

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are an important class of plant steroidal hormones that are essential in a wide variety of physiological processes. To determine the effects of BRs on the development of cotton fibers, through screening cotton fiber EST database and contigging the candidate ESTs, a key gene (GhDWF1) involved in the upstream biosynthetic pathway of BRs was cloned from developing fibers of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cv. Xuzhou 142. The full length of the cloned cDNA is 1849 bp, including a 37 bp 5′-untranslated region, an ORF of 1692 bp, and a 120 bp 3′-untranslated region. The cDNA encodes a polypeptide of 563 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 65 kD. The deduced amino acid sequence has high homology with the BR biosynthetic enzyme, DWARF1/DIMINUTO, from rice, maize, pea, tomato, and Arabidopsis. Furthermore, the typical conserved structures, such as the transmembrane domain, the FAD-dependent oxidase domain, and the FAD-binding site, are present in the GhDWF1 protein. The Southern blot indicated that the GhDWF1 gene is a single copy in upland cotton genome. RT-PCR analysis revealed that the highest level of GhDWF1 expression was detected in 0 DPA (day post anthesis) ovule (with fibers) while the lowest level was observed in cotyledon. The GhDWF1 gene presents high expression levels in root, young stem, and fiber, especially, at the fiber developmental stage of secondary cell wall accumulation. Moreover, the expression level was higher in ovules (with fibers) of wildtype (Xuzhou 142) than in ovules of fuzzless-lintless mutant at the same developmental stages (0 and 4 DPA). The results suggest that the GhDWF1 gene plays a crucial role in fiber development.