Huazhong Agricultural University first revealed the genetic basis of cotton fiber domestication

Recently, I learned from Huazhong Agricultural University that Zhang Xianlong, a professor at the school, led the cotton research team not only for the first time to put forward the genetic basis of cotton fiber domestication, but also to explain the influence of domestication on gene transcription regulation. Related research papers were published in Nature-Genetics on March 7.

The genetic basis of cotton fiber domestication in the scientific community is not very clear. To reveal the impact of artificial domestication on the genome, the researchers collected 31 wild cotton species and 321 domesticated species from major cotton areas around the world for genome resequencing. They constructed the first comprehensive map of upland cotton and identified 93 domestication selection intervals across the genome. These intervals contain a large number of functional genes that are involved in the formation of some of the major agronomic traits of upland cotton, such as plant height, disease resistance and fiber quality.

At the same time, the researchers performed a genome-wide association analysis of fiber quality-related traits, and identified 19 significant sites, of which 4 were located in the domestication selection interval. Further studies have shown that some domestically selected genes in the A subgenome of the upland cotton are related to the length of cotton fibers; some genes related to stress response in the D subgenome are down-regulated in domesticated species, which may promote fiber elongation. In addition, the study found that the key genes of flavonoid metabolism in the D subgenome were domesticated and down-regulated in domesticated species, which may be related to the development of white fibers.