R2R3 MYB Transcription Factor GhMYB201 Promotes Cotton Fiber Elongation via Cell Wall Loosening and Very-Long-Chain Fatty Acid Synthesis

Cotton fiber is the leading natural textile material, and fiber elongation plays an essential role in the formation of cotton yield and quality. Although a number of components in the molecular network controlling cotton fiber elongation have been reported, a lot of players still need to be functionally dissected to understand the regulatory mechanism of fiber elongation comprehensively. In the present study, an R2R3-MYB transcription factor gene, <i>GhMYB201</i>, was characterized and functionally verified via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing. GhMYB201 was homologous to <i>Arabidopsis</i> AtMYB60, and both coding genes (<i>GhMYB201At</i> and <i>GhMYB201Dt</i>) were preferentially expressed in elongating cotton fibers. Knocking-out of <i>GhMYB201</i> significantly reduced the rate and duration of fiber elongation, resulting in shorter and coarser mature fibers. It was found that GhMYB201 could bind and activate the transcription of cell wall loosening genes (<i>GhRDLs</i>) and also β-ketoacyl-CoA synthase genes (<i>GhKCSs</i>) to enhance very-long-chain fatty acid (VLCFA) levels in elongating fibers. Taken together, our data demonstrated that the transcription factor GhMYB201s plays an essential role in promoting fiber elongation via activating genes related to cell wall loosening and VLCFA biosynthesis.