Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of TLP Genes in Gossypium hirsutum L.

Objective] Thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) are important pathogenesis-related proteins that function during disease defense-related responses, participating in the defense reactions triggered by several kinds of pathogen infections. A genome-wide analysis of TLP genes could help increase our understanding of their molecular mechanism in response to Verticillium dahliae infections in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Method] The TLP family members in the genomes of the G. hirsutum L. were identified and expression analyses of TLP genes in response to Verticillium dahliae inoculation were conducted using bioinformatics and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR methods, respectively. Result] In total, 88 TLP genes were identified in G. hirsutum. These TLPs were classified into 10 groups based on their amino acid sequences and a phylogenetic analysis. A gene structure analysis revealed that the number of exons ranges from 1 to 5, and the number of introns ranges from 0 to 4. TLP genes in the same group shared similar structures. Additionally, most TLP proteins contain five motifs that are arranged in the following order: 5, 4, 2, 3 and 1. In total, 87 TLP genes are distributed on 20 of the 26 chromosomes, and 42 and 45 TLP genes are distributed in the A and D subgroups, respectively. The real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR analysis showed that the expression levels of six candidate TLP genes were induced in both tolerant cotton cultivar GZ-1 and susceptible cotton cultivar 86-1, and showed a higher expression in the former. Conclusion] These results provide a foundation for future studies of the functions and regulatory mechanisms of TLP family genes.