{"title":"GhCTEF2 encodes a PLS-type PPR protein required for chloroplast development and plastid RNA editing in cotton.","authors":"Huan He, Mengxue Cheng, Bowen Bao, Yanan Tian, Yating Zheng, Yuzhu Huo, Zengqiang Zhao, Zongming Xie, Jianing Yu, Peng He","doi":"10.1016/j.plantsci.2025.112478","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cotton is a significant cash crop and serves as a crucial raw material for the textile industry. The leaf, which is the site of photosynthesis in cotton plants, directly influences their growth and yield. Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins are characterized by tandem 30-40 amino acid motifs. These proteins play a pivotal role in post-transcriptional regulation of organelle gene expression. In this study, we identified GhCTEF2 as a PLS-type PPR protein and determined its subcellular localization within chloroplasts, highlighting its essential involvement in chloroplast development. Virus-induced gene silencing assays revealed that knockdown of the GhCTEF2 gene resulted in macular phenotypes on cotton leaves and significantly reduced photosynthetic efficiency. Additionally, GhCTEF2-silenced plants exhibited incomplete chloroplasts with reduced thylakoids and grana structures. Furthermore, our findings showed that the downregulation of GhCTEF2 reduced the transcription levels of PEP-dependent genes and significantly decreased the content of the chloroplast LHCⅡ-T complex protein. Further studies showed that GhCTEF2 may interact with other editing factors to regulate the RNA editing process of ndhB, accD, and rps18. These findings offer valuable insights into future breeding strategies aimed at enhancing photosynthesis in cotton.</p>","PeriodicalId":20273,"journal":{"name":"Plant Science","volume":" ","pages":"112478"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Plant Science","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2025.112478","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Cotton is a significant cash crop and serves as a crucial raw material for the textile industry. The leaf, which is the site of photosynthesis in cotton plants, directly influences their growth and yield. Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins are characterized by tandem 30-40 amino acid motifs. These proteins play a pivotal role in post-transcriptional regulation of organelle gene expression. In this study, we identified GhCTEF2 as a PLS-type PPR protein and determined its subcellular localization within chloroplasts, highlighting its essential involvement in chloroplast development. Virus-induced gene silencing assays revealed that knockdown of the GhCTEF2 gene resulted in macular phenotypes on cotton leaves and significantly reduced photosynthetic efficiency. Additionally, GhCTEF2-silenced plants exhibited incomplete chloroplasts with reduced thylakoids and grana structures. Furthermore, our findings showed that the downregulation of GhCTEF2 reduced the transcription levels of PEP-dependent genes and significantly decreased the content of the chloroplast LHCⅡ-T complex protein. Further studies showed that GhCTEF2 may interact with other editing factors to regulate the RNA editing process of ndhB, accD, and rps18. These findings offer valuable insights into future breeding strategies aimed at enhancing photosynthesis in cotton.
期刊介绍:
Plant Science will publish in the minimum of time, research manuscripts as well as commissioned reviews and commentaries recommended by its referees in all areas of experimental plant biology with emphasis in the broad areas of genomics, proteomics, biochemistry (including enzymology), physiology, cell biology, development, genetics, functional plant breeding, systems biology and the interaction of plants with the environment.
Manuscripts for full consideration should be written concisely and essentially as a final report. The main criterion for publication is that the manuscript must contain original and significant insights that lead to a better understanding of fundamental plant biology. Papers centering on plant cell culture should be of interest to a wide audience and methods employed result in a substantial improvement over existing established techniques and approaches. Methods papers are welcome only when the technique(s) described is novel or provides a major advancement of established protocols.