Figure 8.

Two members of ethylene response factor (ERF) TFs, GhERF15 and GhESE3, negatively regulate potassium (K⁺) uptake in cotton roots. GhERF15 and GhESE3 were silenced in the variety SCRC22 using agrobacterium-mediated virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) at the cotyledonary stage. The relative expression of GhERF15 (a) and GhESE3 (b) indicates that they were silenced in both A and D subgenome. The seedlings at three-leaf stage were moved into K⁺-starvation solutions for 48 h, then transferred to measuring solution with 0.08 mM K⁺ to determine the net K⁺ uptake rate (c,d). * and ** indicate significant differences at 5% and 1% level, respectively.