Abiotic stress tolerance is an intricate feature controlled through several genes and networks in the plant system. In abiotic stress, salt, and drought are well known to limit cotton productivity. Transcriptomics meta-analysis has arisen as a robust method to unravel the stress-responsive molecular network in crops. In order to understand drought and salt stress tolerance mechanisms, a meta-analysis of transcriptome studies is crucial. To confront these issues, here, we have given details of genes and networks associated with significant differential expression in response to salt and drought stress. The key regulatory hub genes of drought and salt stress conditions have notable associations with functional drought and salt stress-responsive (DSSR) genes. In the network study, nodulation signaling pathways 2 (NSP2), Dehydration-responsive element1 D (DRE1D), ethylene response factor (ERF61), cycling DOF factor 1 (CDF1), and tubby like protein 3 (TLP3) genes in drought and tubby like protein 1 (TLP1), thaumatin-like proteins (TLP), ethylene-responsive transcription factor ERF109 (EF109), ETS-Related transcription Factor (ELF4), and Arabidopsis thaliana homeodomain leucine-zipper gene (ATHB7) genes in salt showed the significant putative functions and pathways related to providing tolerance against drought and salt stress conditions along with the significant expression values. These outcomes provide potential candidate genes for further in-depth functional studies in cotton, which could be useful for the selection of an improved genotype of Gossypium hirsutum against drought and salt stress conditions.

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Transcriptome Meta-Analysis Associated Targeting Hub Genes and Pathways of Drought and Salt Stress Responses in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum): A Network Biology Approach

Upland cotton is an important global cash crop for its long seed fibers and high edible oil and protein content. Progress in cotton genomics promotes the advancement of cotton genetics, evolutionary studies, functional genetics, and breeding, and has ushered cotton research and breeding into a new era. Here, we summarize high-impact genomics studies for cotton from the last ten years. The diploid Gossypium arboreum and allotetraploid Gossypium hirsutum are the main focus of most genetic and genomic studies. We next review recent progress in cotton molecular biology and genetics, which builds on cotton genome sequencing efforts, population studies, and functional genomics, to provide insights into the mechanisms shaping abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, plant architecture, seed oil content, and fiber development. We also suggest the application of novel technologies and strategies to facilitate genome-based crop breeding. Explosive growth in the amount of novel genomic data, identified genes, gene modules, and pathways is now enabling researchers to utilize multidisciplinary genomics-enabled breeding strategies to cultivate "super cotton", improving multiple traits synergistically. These strategies must rise to meet urgent demands for a sustainable cotton industry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Recent progression and future perspectives in Cotton genomic breeding.

The phospholipase D gene GhPLDδ confers resistance to Verticillium dahliae and improves tolerance to salt stress.

Cotton is an important economic crop. Fusarium and Verticillium are the primary pathogenic fungi that threaten both the quality and sustainable production of cotton. As an opportunistic pathogen, Fusarium causes various human diseases, including fungal keratitis, which is the most common. Therefore, there is an urgent need to study and clarify the resistance mechanisms of cotton and humans toward Fusarium in order to mitigate, or eliminate, its harm. Herein, we first discuss the resistance and susceptibility mechanisms of cotton to Fusarium and Verticillium wilt and classify associated genes based on their functions. We then outline the characteristics and pathogenicity of Fusarium and describe the multiple roles of human neutrophils in limiting hyphal growth. Finally, we comprehensively compare the similarities and differences between animal and plant resistance to Fusarium and put forward new insights into novel strategies for cotton disease resistance breeding and treatment of Fusarium infection in humans.

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Defense Mechanisms of Cotton Fusarium and Verticillium Wilt and Comparison of Pathogenic Response in Cotton and Humans

Global climate change manifested in average annual temperature rise and imbalance of most natural factors, such as changes in annual mean rainfall, air humidity, average temperature of cold and warm months, soil quality, etc., lead to climatic zones displacement. All these have a significant impact on agricultural production in total, including cotton growing. Cotton is one of the most important technical crops in the world. However, it is very sensitive to environmental changes. The influence of abiotic stresses (high temperature, changes in the mean rainfall and soil salinity) causes a dramatic decrease yield of this crop. Moreover, temperature anomalies and climatic zones displacement cause a change in the area of pathogens and pests distribution, which also reduces the cotton yield. One of the possible ways to increase the cotton yield under the influence of abiotic and biotic stresses is the development of new resistant varieties, using both classical breeding methods and genetic engineering achievements. 

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Cotton Breeding in the View of Abiotic and Biotic Stresses: Challenges and Perspectives

In environmental conditions, crop plants are extremely affected by multiple abiotic stresses including salinity, drought, cold, and heat, as well as several biotic stresses such as pests and pathogens. However, salinity, drought, and wilt diseases (e.g., Fusarium and Verticillium) are considered the most destructive environmental stresses to cotton plants. These cause severe growth interruption and yield loss of cotton. Since cotton crops are central contributors to total worldwide fibre production, and also important for oilseed crops, it is essential to improve stress tolerant cultivars to secure future sustainable crop production under adverse environments. Plants have evolved complex mechanisms to respond and acclimate to adverse stress conditions at both physiological and molecular levels. Recent advances in molecular genetics have delivered new insights into the regulatory network system of plant genes, which generally includes defence of cell membranes and proteins, signalling cascades and transcriptional control, and ion uptake and transport and their relevant biochemical pathways and signal factors. In this review, we mainly summarize recent progress concerning several resistance-related genes of cotton plants in response to abiotic (salt and drought) and biotic (Fusarium and Verticillium wilt) stresses and classify them according to their molecular functions to better understand the genetic network. Moreover, this review proposes that studies of stress related genes will advance the security of cotton yield and production under a changing climate and that these genes should be incorporated in the development of cotton tolerant to salt, drought, and fungal wilt diseases (Verticillium and Fusarium).

Fuguang Li

Papers

Regulatory Network of Cotton Genes in Response to Salt, Drought and Wilt Diseases (Verticillium and Fusarium): Progress and Perspective