One molecule makes cotton plants tougher and grow bigger
Xu Y, Zhang Z, Liu L, Jia S, Wei J
Crop Improvement
The same drought and salty-soil stresses squeezing cotton farmers show up in backyard gardens too, and this points to a single natural compound that could someday help ordinary plants shrug off a bad growing season.
Researchers found that squalene, a compound plants normally make in small amounts, can supercharge cotton when its levels are boosted. Plants with more squalene grew longer roots, bigger leaves, and longer cotton fibers, made more of the tough compound lignin, and held up better under drought and alkaline soil. The effect worked even using a squalene-making gene borrowed from fungus, which tells researchers it's the squalene itself doing the work, not any one particular gene.
Key Findings
Overexpressing the GhSQS1 gene raised endogenous squalene levels (mainly in leaves) and triggered brassinosteroid hormone signaling that improved root architecture, leaf expansion, and fiber elongation.
GhSQS1-overexpressing cotton lines showed elevated lignin-related enzyme activity and higher total lignin content, correlating with improved tolerance to drought and alkaline stress.
A fungal squalene synthase sharing only 39.2% amino acid identity with GhSQS1 reproduced the same growth-promoting effects, confirming squalene accumulation itself, not the specific enzyme, drives the benefits.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists boosted a natural compound called squalene in cotton plants, making them grow bigger roots and leaves, produce longer fibers, and survive drought and salty soil better. The trick works even when the squalene-making gene comes from fungus, showing it's the compound itself, not the specific gene, driving the benefits.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
GhSQS1-mediated squalene accumulation coordinates cotton development and stress resilience.
Squalene is a high-value triterpenoid. It is increasingly recognized for its regulatory roles in plant signaling. However, the functions of squalene in cotton remain unexplored. Here, we show that ...
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