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Sea Island cotton ( Gossypium barbadense ) is world-renowned for its superior natural fiber. Although fiber strength is one of the most important fiber quality traits, genes contributing to fiber strength are poorly understood. Production of sea island cotton also is inextricably linked to improving its relatively low yield, thus enhancing the importance of joint improvement of both fiber quality and yield. We used genomic variation to uncover the genetic evidence of trait improvement resulting from pedigree breeding of Sea Island cotton. This pedigree was aimed at improving fiber strength and yielded an elite cultivar, XH35. Using a combination of genome-wide association study (GWAS) and selection screens, we detected 82 putative fiber-strength-related genes. Expression analysis confirmed a calmodulin-like gene, GbCML7 , which enhanced fiber strength in a specific haplotype. This gene is a major-effect gene, which interacts with a minor-effect gene, GbTUA3 , facilitating the enhancement of fiber strength in a synergistic fashion. Moreover, GbCML7 participates in the cooperative improvement of fiber strength, fiber length, and fiber uniformity, though a slight compromise exists between the first two of these traits and the latter. Importantly, GbCML7 is shown to boost yield in some backgrounds by increasing multiple yield components to varying degrees, especially boll number. Our work provides valuable genomic evidence and a key genetic factor for the joint improvement of fiber quality and yield in Sea Island cotton.
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Planting for perfection: How to maximize cotton fiber quality with the right planting dates in the face of climate change
Context: Cotton quality is as crucial as cotton quantity. Despite considerable efforts to enhance cotton yield, there has been limited focus on maximizing fiber quality. The temperature experienced from flowering to boll opening becomes the critical factor affecting fiber quality when cotton is cultivated under optimum water and nutrient conditions. This depends on the planting date for a specific location and cultivar. Therefore, fiber quality can be improved by optimizing the planting date for a specific geographic location and cultivar. Objective: The study aims to develop a methodology for optimizing planting dates to maximize fiber quality, taking into account location-specific weather and cultivar details. Methods: A methodology is developed and demonstrated for the cotton belt in the USA. The methodology accounts for temperature, planting intervals, cotton varieties (early, mid, and late-season), and four major fiber quality indicators (fiber length, strength, micronaire, and uniformity). Based on the average of the last 15 years of weather data and different cotton cultivars, spatial maps depicting the best planting dates and associated fiber quality are analyzed for 765 cotton-growing counties in the USA. The study also explores variability in the optimum planting date and fiber quality with climate change in these counties. Results: Results indicate that planting cotton at the optimum planting date can improve all fiber quality features. Fiber length can range from medium (25–29 mm) to long (30–34.5 mm), fiber strength from strong (29–30 g/tex) to very strong (>31 g/tex), micronaire from the discount range (≤3.4 and ≥5.0) to the base range (3.5–3.6 and 4.3–4.9), and uniformity can be high (>85). Applying the methodology with consideration of future climate projections shows a 19 % decline in micronaire - the most affected trait, followed by 8.4 % and 1.6 % decreases in length and uniformity, respectively. In contrast, fiber strength is expected to increase by 5 % in the future. Conclusions: Results indicate that optimizing the planting date with the developed methodology can enhance fiber quality. Additionally, the methodology can predict variations in fiber quality due to future climatic conditions. Significance The developed methodology can be valuable for farmers and growers seeking to enhance fiber quality. It is standard and applicable to any location and cultivar. A similar approach can be adopted for other locations and crops, such as soybeans, rice, and wheat, to optimize their quality.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2316382
- PAR ID:
- 10526414
- Publisher / Repository:
- ScienceDirect
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Field Crops Research
- Volume:
- 315
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 0378-4290
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 109483
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109483
