ARS | Publication request: Distribution and organization of gene-rich islands for fiber development in the cotton genome

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 1, 2008
Publication Date: January 10, 2009
Citation: Xu, Z., Kohel, R.J., Song, G., Cho, J., Alabady, M., Yu, J., Koo, P., Chu, J., Yu, S., Wilkins, T.A., Zhu, Y., Yu, J. 2009. Distribution and organization of gene-rich islands for fiber development in the cotton genome [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Plant and Animal Genome Conference, January 10-14, 2009, San Diego, California. 2009 CDROM.

Technical Abstract: Cotton fiber is an extremely elongated cell derived from epidermal layer of cotton seed coat and it is an ideal model for studies of plant cell initiation/differentiation, cell elongation and cell wall biogenesis. Genetic improvement of cotton fiber yield and quality relies largely on the knowledge and understanding of genetic networks in the cotton genome that are responsible for cotton fiber development. As a step toward elucidating gene networks for cotton fiber development in the cotton genome, we investigated the distribution and organization of fiber genes by anchoring the fiber development EST unigenes in an integrated genetic and physical map of the cotton genome. Results revealed the presence of gene-rich islands for fiber genes with a biased distribution in the tetraploid cotton genome that was also linked to discrete fiber developmental stages based on expression profiles. A total of 10 gene-rich islands were identified in four chromosomes that host many more EST unigenes for fiber development than in other chromosomes. The information suggests for the first time the existence of functional coupling gene clusters in the cotton genome. These functionally related gene clusters display similar transcriptional regulation and they are valuable for genetic improvement of cotton fiber traits and for basic studies of their genetic mechanisms.