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Pak. J. Bot., 48(3): 1099-1106, 2016.

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EXPRESSION ANALYSIS OF FIBER RELATED GENES IN COTTON (GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM L.) THROUGH REAL TIME PCR

NADIA IQBAL¹, ASIA KHATOON¹, MUHAMMAD ASIF¹ AND AFTAB BASHIR^2*

Abstract: Cotton fibers are unicellular seed trichomes and the largest known plant cells.  Fiber morphogenesis in cotton is a complex process involving a large number of genes expressed throughout fiber development process.  The expression profiling of five gene families in various cotton tissues was carried out through real time PCR. Expression analysis revealed that transcripts of expansin, tubulin and E6 were elevated from 5 to 20 days post anthesis (DPA) fibers. Three Lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) including LTP1, LTP3, LTP7 exhibited highest expression in 10 - 20 DPA fibers.  Transcripts of LTP3 were detected in fibers and non fiber tissues that of LTP7 were almost negligible in non fiber tissues. Sucrose phosphate synthase gene showed highest expression in 10 DPA fibers while sucrose synthse (susy) expressed at higher rate in 5-20 DPA fibers as well as roots. The results reveal that most of fiber related genes showed high expression in 5-20 DPA fibers. Comprehensive expression study may help to determine tissue and stage specificity of genes under study.  The study may also help to explore complex process of fiber development and understand the role of these genes in fiber development process. Highly expressed genes in fibers may be transformed in cotton for improvement of fiber quality traits. Genes that were expressed specifically in fibers or other tissues could be used for isolation of upstream regulatory sequences.

Key words: Cotton, Fiber related genes, Real time PCR, Expression profiles, DPA
 

¹National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, Pakistan

²Department of Biological Sciences, F.C. College University, Lahore, Pakistan

Corresponding author’s email: aftabb.pk@gmail.com