A deletion/duplication in the Ligon lintless-2 locus induces siRNAs that inhibit cotton fiber cell elongation

Most cultivated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) varieties have two types of seed fibers: short fuzz fiber strongly adhered to the seed coat, and long lint fiber used in the textile industry. The Ligon lintless-2 (Li-2) cotton mutant has a normal vegetative phenotype but produces very short lint fiber on the seeds. The Li-2 mutation is controlled by a single dominant gene. We discovered a large structural rearrangement at the end of chromosome D13 in the Li-2 mutant based on whole-genome sequencing and genetic mapping of segregating populations. The rearrangement contains a 177-kb deletion and a 221-kb duplication positioned as a tandem inverted repeat. The gene Gh_D13G2437 is located at the junction of the inverted repeat in the duplicated region. During transcription such structure spontaneously forms self-complementary hairpin RNA of Gh_D13G2437 followed by production of small interfering RNA (siRNA). Gh_D13G2437 encodes a Ran-Binding Protein 1 (RanBP1) that preferentially expresses during cotton fiber elongation. The abundance of siRNA produced from Gh_D13G2437 reciprocally corresponds with the abundance of highly homologous (68%-98% amino acid sequence identity) RanBP1 family transcripts during fiber elongation, resulting in a shorter fiber phenotype in the Li-2. Overexpression of Gh_D13G2437 in the Li-2 mutant recovered the long lint fiber phenotype. Taken together, our findings revealed that siRNA-induced silencing of a family of RanBP1s inhibit elongation of cotton fiber cells in the Li-2 mutant. A deletion/duplication in the Ligon lintless-2 locus induces siRNAs from self-complementary transcripts of Ran Binding Protein 1 that inhibit cotton fiber cell elongation.