Integrative Analysis of the lncRNA and mRNA Transcriptome Revealed Genes and Pathways Potentially Involved in the Anther Abortion of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Cotton plays an important role in the economy of many countries. Many studies have revealed that numerous genes and various metabolic pathways are involved in anther development. In this research, we studied the differently expressed mRNA and lncRNA during the anther development of cotton between the cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) line, C2P5A, and the maintainer line, C2P5B, using RNA-seq analysis. We identified 17,897 known differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs, and 865 DE long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that corresponded to 1172 cis-target genes at three stages of anther development using gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment of DE mRNAs; and cis-target genes of DE lncRNAs probably involved in the degradation of tapetum cells, microspore development, pollen development, and in the differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis of the anther cell wall in cotton. Of these DE genes, LTCONS_00105434, LTCONS_00004262, LTCONS_00126105, LTCONS_00085561, and LTCONS_00085561, correspond to cis-target genes Ghir_A09G011050.1, Ghir_A01G005150.1, Ghir_D05G003710.2, Ghir_A03G016640.1, and Ghir_A12G005100.1, respectively. They participate in oxidative phosphorylation, flavonoid biosynthesis, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, fatty acid biosynthesis, and MAPK signaling pathway in plants, respectively. In summary, the transcriptomic data indicated that DE lncRNAs and DE mRNAs were related to the anther development of cotton at the pollen mother cell stage, tetrad stage, and microspore stage, and abnormal expression could lead to anther abortion, resulting in male sterility of cotton.