Roles of the 14-3-3 gene family in cotton flowering

Abstract Background In plants, 14-3-3 proteins, also called GENERAL REGULATORY FACTORs (GRFs), encoded by a large multigene family, are involved in protein–protein interactions and play crucial roles various physiological processes. No genome-wide analysis of the GRF gene family has been performed cotton, their functions flowering largely unknown. Results this study, 17, 31, 17 genes were identified Gossypium herbaceum , G. arboreum hirsutum raimondii respectively, analyses designated as GheGRF s, GaGRF GhGRF GrGRFs respectively. A phylogenetic revealed that these proteins divided into ε non-ε groups. Gene structural, motif composition, synteny, duplicated provided insights evolution cotton. exhibited diverse expression patterns different tissues. Yeast two-hybrid bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays showed GhGRFs interacted with cotton FLOWERING LOCUS T homologue GhFT cytoplasm nucleus, while they basic leucine zipper transcription factor GhFD only nucleus. Virus-induced silencing transgenic studies Arabidopsis demonstrated GhGRF3/6/9/15 repressed GhGRF14 promoted flowering. Conclusions Here, 82 protein features, classification, evolution, comprehensively systematically investigated. The to form florigen activation complexs inhibited However, complex results provide foundation for further on regulatory mechanisms