ARS | Publication request: Cotton. In: Kole, C. (Ed.) Genome Mapping & Molecular Breeding. Vol. 6: Technical Crops.

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: June 1, 2006
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Citation: Ulloa, M., Brubaker, C., Chee, P. 2007. Cotton. In: Kole, C. (Ed.) Genome Mapping & Molecular Breeding. Vol. 6: Technical Crops. Book Chapter. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York. p. 1-49.

Technical Abstract: The most important renewable natural textile fiber worldwide and the world’s sixth largest source of vegetable oil is cotton. After losing some ground to synthetic fibers in the past, the demand for cotton has been steadily growing. The cotton growers who survive through the next decade will be those who can produce the most cotton per unit input and produce cotton whose characteristics attract price premiums, and this is the message being delivered to cotton breeders around the world. The challenge for the breeders is that all the high priority breeding objectives for the next decade are morphologically complex traits controlled by many interacting genes. Making real breeding gains for these complex traits will require an unprecedented understanding of the molecular genetics of these traits. The discovery of DNA technology started to allow modern breeders to uncover genetic variation in order to dissect complex traits. First, to understand the complexities of genetic linkage mapping in cotton, this chapter presents the most recent information on the evolution and structure of the cotton genome. However, the overall purpose of this chapter is not to review the cotton plant and/or the cotton crop in whole which would involve the physiology of the plant and fiber, and/or production and marketing methods, but to provide enough information of the cotton crop in order for the reader to understand the more recent research events in cotton molecular DNA technology and the state of the art in genetic linkage mapping, one of the primary tools breeders will use to reach their breeding objectives in the next decade. Book Chapter in Volume VI: Forest Trees, Fiber, Fodder & Forage, Plantation Crops, and Medicinal & Aromatic Plants: Science Publishers, Inc., New Hampshire, USA and Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.