SRA

Patterns of indeterminate and determinate growth specify plant architecture and influence crop productivity. In cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS (SFT) stimulates the transition to flowering and determinate growth while its closely related antagonist SELF-PRUNING (SP) maintains meristems in indeterminate states to favor vegetative growth. To identify the molecular programs regulating cotton growth habits, and understand how altered expression of GhSFT and GhSP perturbs these programs, we used RNA-Seq to determine the gene expression networks involved in wild photoperiodic, domesticated day-neutral, and GhSFT- and GhSP-regulated architectures. GhSFT or GhSP affected the expression of genes regulating meristem fate and metabolic pathways. Gene ontology analysis predicted enrichment of transcripts involved in photosynthesis, secondary metabolism, and cell wall biosynthesis, and these hypotheses were functionally verified. Weighted gene co-expression network analyses using multiple cotton datasets identified diverse genetic modules highly correlated with SFT or SP, including those that may benefit crop management. Overall design: We used virus-mediated transient gene manipulation to over-express GhSFT from a disarmed Cotton leaf crumple virus (dCLCrV) or silence GhSP from Tobacco rattle virus (TRV) in wild photoperiodic Texas 701 (TX701) and domesticated day-neutral Delta Pine 61 (DP61) cotton varieties.