Actin depolymerizing factor （ADF）, highly conserved in all eukaryotic cells, is a low molecular mass of actin-binding protein, which plays a key role in modulating the polymerizing and depolymerizing of the actin filaments. Four cDNAs （designated GhADF2, GhADF3, GhADF4, and GhADF5, respectively） encoding ADF proteins were isolated from cotton （Gossypium hirsutum） fiber cDNA library. GhADF2 cDNA is 705 bp in length and deduces a protein with 139 amino acids. GhADF3 cDNA is 819 bp in length and encodes a protein of 139 amino acids. GhADF4 cDNA is 804 bp in length and deduces a protein with 143 amino acids. GhADF5 cDNA is 644 bp in length and encodes a protein of 141 amino acids. The molecular evolutionary relationship of these genes was analyzed by means of bioinformatics. GhADF2 is closely related to GhADF3 （99% identity） and PetADF2 （89% identity）. GhADF4 is closely related to AtADF6 （78% identity）, and GhADF5 is closely related to AtADF5 （83% identity）. These results demonstrated that the plant ADF genes are highly conserved in structure. RT-PCR analysis showed that GhADF2 is predominantly expressed in fiber, whereas, GhADF5 is mainly expressed in cotyledons. On the other hand, it seems that GhADF3 and GhADF4 have no tissue specificity. Expression levels of different ADF genes may vary considerably in the same cell type, suggesting that they might be involved in regulating tissue development of cotton and the each ADF isoform may diverge to form the functional difference from the other ADFs during evolution.
The 14-3-3 protein, highly conserved in all eukaryotic cells, is an important regulatory protein. It plays an important role in the growth, amplification, apoptosis, signal transduction, and other crucial life activities of cells. A eDNA encoding a putative 14-3-3 protein was isolated from cotton fiber eDNA library. The eDNA, designated as Gh14-3-3L （Gossypium hirsutum 14-3-3-like）, is 1,029 bp in length （including a 762 bp long open reading frame and 5＇-/3＇-untranslated regions） and deduced a protein with 253 amino acids. The GhI4-3-3L shares higher homology with the known plant 14-3-3 proteins, and possesses the basic structure of 14-3-3 proteins： one dimeric domain, one phosphoralated-serine rich motif, four CC domains, and one EF Hand motif. Northern blotting analysis showed that Gh14-3-3L was predominantly expressed during early fiber development, and reached to the peak of expression in 10 days post anthers （DPA） fiber cells, suggesting that the gene may be involved in regulating fiber elongation. The gene is also expressed at higher level in both ovule and petal, but displays lower or undeteetable level of activity in other tissues of cotton.
