Overexpression of the Caragana korshinskii com58276 Gene Enhances Tolerance to Drought in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

The increasing water scarcity associated with environmental change brings significant negative impacts to the growth of cotton plants, whereby it is urgent to enhance plant tolerance to drought. Here, we overexpressed the com58276 gene isolated from the desert plant Caragana korshinskii in cotton plants. We obtained three OE plants and demonstrated that com58276 confers drought tolerance in cotton after subjecting transgenic seeds and plants to drought. RNA-seq revealed the mechanisms of the possible anti-stress response, and that the overexpression of com58276 does not affect growth and fiber content in OE cotton plants. The function of com58276 is conserved across species, improving the tolerance of cotton to salt and low temperature, and demonstrating its applicability to improve plant resistance to environmental change.

Automated summary

The increasing water scarcity due to environmental change negatively affects the growth of cotton plants, emphasizing the need to improve their drought tolerance. In this study, we introduced the com58276 gene from Caragana korshinskii, a desert plant, into cotton plants. We generated three transgenic plants and demonstrated that com58276 enhances drought tolerance in cotton. RNA-seq analysis revealed the possible anti-stress mechanisms, and overexpression of com58276 did not affect plant growth and fiber content in transgenic cotton plants. Furthermore, com58276 showed conserved functions across species, improving cotton's tolerance to salt and low temperature, highlighting its potential for enhancing plant resistance to environmental change.