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Multi-scale phenotyping of developing cotton fibers
  • +10
  • Alexander H Howell,
  • Youngwoo Lee,
  • Corrinne E Grover,
  • Sivakumar Swaminathan,
  • Heena Rani,
  • Pengcheng Yang,
  • Elena Yu,
  • Anika Sood,
  • Jun Xie,
  • Eileen Mallery,
  • Jonathan F Wendel,
  • Olga A Zabokna,
  • Daniel B Szymanski
Alexander H Howell
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Youngwoo Lee
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology
Corrinne E Grover
Sivakumar Swaminathan
Roy J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University
Heena Rani
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Department of Biochemistry, Punjab Agricultural University
Pengcheng Yang
Elena Yu
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology
Anika Sood
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology
Jun Xie
Eileen Mallery
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology
Jonathan F Wendel
Olga A Zabokna
Roy J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University
Daniel B Szymanski
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University

Abstract

Cotton fibers in the Gossipyum genus are the foundation of a multi-billion-dollar textile industry. Fiber development begins as unicellular trichoblasts emerge from the seed coat epidermis. This hemispherical trichoblast subsequently tapers and executes a complex cell elongation program. The trichoblast transitions to a cellulose-generating machine as it puts down layers of secondary cell wall before cell death and desiccation. Elucidating the multi-scale interactions and feedback controls among cytoskeletal systems, cell wall properties, and changing cell geometries will provide an abundance of opportunities to engineer more favorable traits during fiber development. To meet this long-term goal, we are conducting a "multi-omic" systems level analysis to better understand the fiber elongation process from 5 to 24 days post anthesis. An evolutionarily conserved microtubule-cellulose synthase control module is central to the processes of fiber tapering and anisotropic cell elongation. As such, molecular signatures of transcripts and proteins using quantitative proteomics were profiled and integrated across fiber development. Concurrently, a multi-scale image analysis pipeline was developed. Whole organs and fiber growth was measured under a stereomicroscope, fiber geometry and cellulose microfibril anatomy was characterized with confocal microscopy, and wall thickness was measured via TEM. Changes in the microfibril system are being analyzed in the context of the microtubule-CESA-module of gene expression dynamics. Though correlation of the phenotypic and molecular data is ongoing, these analyses are generating models to predict mechanisms of cellular pathway integration and phenotypic control. Finally, the structural information provides a robust dataset to refine finite element models of fiber growth.
30 Oct 2023Submitted to NAPPN 2024
30 Oct 2023Published in NAPPN 2024