南京农业大学郭旺珍团队联合多家单位揭示了棉花衣分提升的关键分子开关

Plant Biotechnology Journal 13 Mar 2026

A Natural LTR Retrotransposon Insertion in the Promoter of GhNAC140-Dt Boosts Cotton Lint Yield

Author

Abstract

Transposable elements (TEs) are fundamental drivers of crop evolution and domestication. Whereas the underlying mechanisms of TE-mediated gene activation remain poorly understood. Lint percentage is an important yield component in cotton. Here, we report a retrotransposon insertion in the promoter of GhNAC140-Dt, a secondary wall NAC encoding gene, to promote the lint production by elevating its expression. We confirm that a 60bp core cis-regulatory module within the TE's LTR (long terminal repeat) specifically recruits the transcription factor GhMYB46 and increases downstream genes' expression. GhNAC140-Dt overexpression activates the expressions of secondary cell wall development related genes, including GhCESA4-Dt, GhCESA4-At, and GhCOBL9-At, promotes cellulose deposition, and enhances lint percentage. This retrotransposon insertion massively emerges on the domestication transition from Gossypium hirsutum races to cultivated cotton accessions, with >80% fixation in modern cultivars. This work deepens our understanding of TE-mediated gene activation; it also provides direct molecular evidence for “transposon-driven yield evolution” in crop domestication.