Figure 1.

VLCFA Modulates Fiber Cell Elongation.

(A) Exogenously applied LCFAs did not promote wild-type fiber cell elongation over the entire experimental period.

(B) Exogenously applied VLCFAs promoted significant fiber cell growth.

(C) ACE (2 μM) blocked cotton fiber cell elongation but not ovule cell expansion. NM, not measurable.

(D) VLCFAs (C20:0 to C30:0) reversed the inhibition of ACE on fiber growth.

(E) C24:0 promoted fiber growth at concentrations as low as 0.1 μM.

All ovules were collected at 1 DPA from wild-type plants and cultured for a total of 6 d with the addition of different chemicals as specified. All data reported here were obtained from three independent ovule culture experiments with 30 fibers measured for each treatment and are presented as means ± se. Significance values in (A), (B), (C), and (E) were obtained by comparison with the Medium group, and those in (D) were obtained by comparison with the ACE-only group. ACE-only, wild-type ovules cultured in the medium supplemented with 2 μM ACE; Medium, wild-type ovules cultured in the medium specified by Shi et al. (2006) containing methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE; ∼0.8 μM). Statistical significance was determined using one-way analysis of variance software combined with Tukey's test. ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001.