Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Insect Control and Cotton Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #408500
Research Project: Novel Approaches for Management of Row Crop Pests and Continued Boll Weevil Eradication

Location: Insect Control and Cotton Disease Research

Title: Nematode-resistance loci in upland cotton genomes are associated with structural differences

Author
item Cohen, Zachary
item Perkin, Lindsey
item WAGNER, TANYA - Texas A&M University
item Liu, Jinggao
item Bell, Alois - Al
item ARICK, MARK - Mississippi State University
item GROVER, CORRINE - Mississippi State University
item Yu, John
item Udall, Joshua - Josh
item Suh, Charles

Submitted to: G3, Genes/Genomes/Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/11/2024
Publication Date: 6/27/2024
Citation: Cohen, Zachary P., Perkin, Lindsey C., Wagner, Tanya A., Liu, Jinggao, Bell, Alois A., Arick II, Mark A., Grover, Corrine E., Yu, John Z., Udall, Joshua A., Suh, Charles P-C. 2024. Nematode-resistance loci in upland cotton genomes are associated with structural differences. G3, Genes/Genomes/Genetics. Article jkae140. https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkae140.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkae140

Interpretive Summary: Nematodes are worm-like organisms that occur in all environments. Two types of microscopic nematodes, known as root-knot and reniform, occur in the soil and attack plant roots of agricultural crops. Collectively, the two types of nematodes reduce cotton yields in the U.S. more than any other pest or disease. The nematodes also may interact with seedling and cotton root rot pathogens to exacerbate the effects of cotton diseases. Currently, rotation of crops and application of pesticides are used to manage nematodes in cotton, but repeated applications are required and are expensive. Thus, the development of cotton lines that are resistant to nematodes is considered the most practical solution for managing these pests in cotton. In previous collaborative research, ARS developed and sequenced two cotton lines that showed resistance to nematodes, but the genes involved in nematode resistance were not identified. In this study, we compared the genome of these two resistant lines to the susceptible parental line to identify genes within marker regions that contribute to nematode resistance. This work will expedite the development of DNA markers that can be used to efficiently introduce nematode-resistance genes into commercially valuable cotton lines.

Technical Abstract: Root knot and reniform nematodes are two of the most destructive pests of conventional Upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutum, L. and continue to be a major threat to cotton fiber production in semi-arid regions of the southern United States and Central America. Fortunately, natural tolerance to these nematodes has been identified in Pima cotton varieties, G. barbadense, which has motivated a robust breeding program that has successfully introgressed and stacked these independent resistant traits into an Upland cotton, high-quality fiber producing plant. This work identifies the genomic variations that have been bred into the BAR 32-30 and BARBREN-713 lineages by comparing it to the last sequenced susceptible, fiber-producing parental line, Phytogen PSC 355. We identify several large genomic differences within marker regions that harbor resistance genes and expression mechanisms shared by the resistant lines with respect to the susceptible parental line. This work emphasizes the utility of whole genome comparisons as a means of elucidating large and small differences by lineage.