Mepiquat chloride promotes cotton lateral root formation by modulating plant hormone homeostasis.
BACKGROUND
Mepiquat chloride (MC), a plant growth regulator, enhances root growth by promoting lateral root formation in cotton. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon is still unknown.


METHODS
In this study, we used 10 cotton (Gossypium hirsutum Linn.) cultivars to perform a seed treatment with MC to investigate lateral root formation, and selected a MC sensitive cotton cultivar for dynamic monitor of root growth and transcriptome analysis during lateral root development upon MC seed treatment.


RESULTS
The results showed that MC treated seeds promotes the lateral root formation in a dosage-depended manner and the effective promotion region is within 5 cm from the base of primary root. MC treated seeds induce endogenous auxin level by altering gene expression of both gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis and signaling and abscisic acid (ABA) signaling. Meanwhile, MC treated seeds differentially express genes involved in indole acetic acid (IAA) synthesis and transport. Furthermore, MC-induced IAA regulates the expression of genes related to cell cycle and division for lateral root development.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that MC orchestrates GA and ABA metabolism and signaling, which further regulates auxin biosynthesis, transport, and signaling to promote the cell division responsible for lateral root formation.
['Wu|Qian|Q|', 'Du|Mingwei|M|', 'Wu|Jie|J|', 'Wang|Ning|N|', 'Wang|Baomin|B|', 'Li|Fangjun|F|', 'Tian|Xiaoli|X|', 'Li|Zhaohu|Z|']
D020869:Gene Expression Profiling D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant D003368:Gossypium D006706:Homeostasis D063246:Organogenesis, Plant D010880:Piperidines D010937:Plant Growth Regulators D018517:Plant Roots
Cotton Lateral root Mepiquat chloride (MC) Transcriptome Phytohormone