FIGURE 3.

Silencing of GhGB1 and GhGB2 in cotton seedlings triggers the appearance of necrotic lesions followed by plant death. (a) Transcript levels of GhGB1 and GhGB2 in different tissues of 3‐week‐old Gossypium hirsutum cv. “TM1” were quantified by qRT‐PCR. (b) qRT‐PCR analysis of GhGB1 and GhGB2 in empty vector control (TRV:00), GhGB1‐silenced (TRV:β1), or GhGB2‐silenced (TRV:β2) cotton plants. One‐week‐old cotton seedlings were infiltrated with Agrobacterium carrying virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS) vector, TRV:00, TRV:β1 or TRV:β2. qRT‐PCR was performed at 7, 9, 11, and 13 days after infiltration (dai). For (a) and (b), gene expression was normalized to the cotton Ubiquitin 7 (GhUB7). Bars represent means ± SEM, n = (a) 4 and (b) 5. (c) Phenotypes of cotton plants 3 weeks after VIGS infiltration. (d) Representative stem (upper row) and leave (lower row) phenotypes of plants infiltrated with VIGS vector. Photos were taken at 13 dai