Genome-Wide Analysis Elucidates the Roles of / Genes Reveals the Function of () in Cold Stress in .

This study identified 13 / members in through bioinformatics methods and divided them into three subgroups by phylogenetic tree analysis. Motif and gene structure analysis showed that the genes in this family were highly conserved. Promoter -acting element analysis found that the promoters of / contained a large number of -acting elements in response to growth and development and abiotic stress. Further RT-qPCR results showed that / genes responded to various abiotic stresses such as IAA, ABA, cold, and heat, and the expression levels of each gene changed obviously, especially (), which responded significantly to cold injury. Using VIGS (virus-induced gene silencing) technology to silence in the cold-tolerant cotton variety , it was found that the resistance of to cold damage was significantly reduced. The physiological response mechanism of the in resisting cold damage was further analyzed through trypan blue staining of leaves and determination of enzyme activity levels. This study provided effective genetic resources for cotton cold-tolerance breeding.