A presentation on cotton genetics and breeding tailored to general audience as a part of a communication seminar at UGA.

1. swicofil.com
Comfy Cotton
Clothes
and their
Genetics
loveandlavender.com
Sameer Khanal

2. Fable of veggie lamb
houstonpress.compaulchong.net

3. Cultivated
cotton
Cotton
breeding
World of
cotton
washington131.pbworks.comehow.com123rf.com
Comfy cotton clothes and their genetics

4. From field to cotton gin
mavensphotoblog.com
Harvest Modules
Gin Gin

5. Cotton gin
mavensphotoblog.com
Ginning
Bale
Products
Seeded
cotton
Cleaned
cotton (still
seeded)
Seeds
Fibers

6. Cotton seeds
planetnatural.com wholesale.wfplastic.com.aucsc-world.com baumwollboerse.de
Feed
Medicine
made-in-china.com
Pulp

7.  What can you make from a
bale?
Cotton fibers
Bale
123rf.com
 200 Jeans

8.  What can you make from a
bale?
Cotton fibers
gabanigroup.com
Bale
123rf.com
 200 Jeans 700 Shirts

9. Cotton fibers
 $31 million
 What can you make from a
bale?
culpeppercleaners.com
 3 parts cotton: 1 part linen
en.wikipedia.orghuffingtonpost.com
Bale

10. cotton.org
Cotton world

11. USA
China
Brazil
India
Australia
Pakistan Uzbekistan
33
28
16
11
9
6
4
11
12
5 5
2.5
cottoninc.com
Who’s who in cotton
Production (in million bales)Export (in million bales)

12. cotton.org
The cotton belt
• 12 million acres
• 4th biggest crop
• $6 billion industry
• $3 billion from export

13. The state of Georgia
200
0
1200
1000
800
600
400
1600
1400
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Area planted (in thousand acres)
georgiaagforecast.com
Cotton
Peanut
Corn
SoybeanWheat
Georgia

14. Cultivated
cotton
Cotton
breeding
World of
cotton
washington131.pbworks.comehow.com123rf.com

15. Cultivated cotton
carolinafiberfest.orgalibaba.comthefibercloset.com
Domestication:
 Old world cotton
 New world cotton

16. Old world cotton
 Tree cotton:
G. arboreum
 Levant cotton:
G. herbaceum
photozou.jpgeolocation.ws

17. Old world cotton
 26 chromosomes
 “A” genome
 Old world wilds:
- “B”, “E”, and “F”
- Where are “C” and
“D”?
Wang et al., 2007

18. cotton.org
New world cotton
“D”
genome “A” genome
“A”
genome
“AD”
genome

19. New world cotton
 Hybrids between “A” and
“D” genomes
 52 chromosomes
“A” genome “D” genome
Wang et al., 2007Konan et al., 2007
“AD”genome

20. New world cotton
 Upland Cotton:
G. hirsutum
 Pima/Egyptian:
G. barbadense
flickr.combotanicalgarden.ubc.ca

21. US cotton types
EasternAcala DeltaPlains
cotton.org
Pima
Upland cotton:Pima/Egyptian cotton:

22. Cultivated
cotton
Cotton
breeding
World of
cotton
washington131.pbworks.comehow.com123rf.com

23. Yield
flickr.com

24. Insect-pest resistance
clemson.edusripmc.orgflickr.com http://iowabuglife.blogspot.com
Boll worm Spider mites
Stink bug Plant bug

25. Disease resistance
mississippi-crops.comhttp://today.agrilife.org
Boll rot Target leaf spot
Wilt Nematodes

26. Herbicide tolerance
www.invasive.org
Cotton
row
Weeds
row

27. Fiber quality traits
Determination:
 Samples from bales
 Inspector
determination:
- Leaf grade
- Preparation
- Extraneous materials
Bale
culpeppercleaners.com
 Instrument determination
- Fiber color, length, strength, fineness
cottoninc.com

28. Instrument determination
uster.com
High volume instrument

29. How garments are made?
Bale
Yarn
Cloth
Garments
forbes.com
Spinning
culpeppercleaners.comzhenhuatex.com123rf.com

30. Fiber quality affects yarn quality
Long, strong, and fine fibers:
 Full, strong, even yarns
studyblue.comtextilefabric.com

31. Fiber quality affects yarn quality
Long, strong, and fine fibers:
 Full, strong, even yarns
 Less hairiness in threads
denimhunters.com
Hairs

32. Fiber quality affects yarn quality
Long, strong, and fine fibers:
 Full, strong, even yarns
 Less hairiness in threads
 Maximum thread count
Soft, light, and lustrous
1worldsarongs.blogspot.com
Low thread count
High thread count
propercloth.com

33. Fibers – threads- product quality
Long, strong, and fine fibers:
 Full, strong, even yarns
 Less hairiness in threads
 Maximum thread count
Soft, light, and lustrous
 Expensive!
Craig Taylor
220 thread count
$395-$525
Thomas Pink
170 thread count
$350
us.thomaspink.com craigtaylor.com

34. Fiber color
mavensphotoblog.comdoa.go.th cottonindia.com

35. Fiber length
Upper half mean length (inch)
Below 0.99 Short
0.99-1.10 Medium
1.11-1.26 Long
Above 1.26 Extra Long
uster.com cottoninc.com
Beard
Sample
Sensor

36. Fiber strength
Fiber strength (grams/tex)
20 and below Very Weak
21-25 Weak
26-29 Base
30-32 Strong
uster.com cottoninc.com

37. Fiber fineness
Fiber fineness (micronaire)
Premium 3.7-4.2
Base Range 3.5-3.6, 4.3-4.9
Discount Range <3.5, >4.9
cottoninc.com swicofil.com

38. Increase in yield from Bt
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Bt
Non Bt
0
900
720
540
360
180
3,080
1,080
Fiberyield(lbs/acre)
Hake, 2013

39. New varieties: fiber length
cotton.org
DP 1311
DP 1359
DP 1321
Upper Half Mean Length (inch)
Below 0.99 Short
0.99-1.10 Medium
1.11-1.26 Long
Above 1.26 Extra Long
Variety Length (inch)
DP 1359 1.14
DP 1321 1.14
DP 1311 1.12

40. New varieties: fiber strength
cotton.org
DP 1311
DP 1359
DP 1321
Variety
Strength
(grams/tex)
DP 1359 31.5
DP 1321 31.2
DP 1311 29.1
Fiber Strength (grams/tex)
<20 Very Weak
21-25 Weak
26-29 Base
30-32 Strong
>33 Very Strong

41. New varieties: fiber fineness
cotton.org
DP 1311
DP 1359
DP 1321
Variety
Strength
(grams/tex)
DP 1359 4.6
DP 1321 4.8
DP 1311 4.5
Fiber Fineness/Maturity (Mic)
Premium 3.7-4.2
Base 3.5-3.6,
4.3-4.9
Discount <3.5, >4.9

42. Cultivated
cotton
Cotton
breeding
World of
cotton
washington131.pbworks.comehow.com123rf.com

43. Challenges
 Negative association
between yield and fiber
quality
 Narrow genetic
diversity in cultivated
cotton
 Genetically complex
trait
Yield Quality
Yield Quality

44. Clement et al., 2012
1,000 2,000 3,000
lbs/acre
1.04
1.12
1.20
1.28
1.36
1.44
Length(inch)
Negative association
Yield and fiber length
US
1999-2009
Australia
2004-2009

45. Clement et al., 2012
1,000 2,000 3,000
lbs/acre
260
280
300
320
360
340
380
400
Strength(KNmKg-1)
Negative association
Yield and fiber strength
US
1999-2009
Australia
2004-2009

46. Causes of reduced genetic diversity
1st: “A” x “D” 2nd : Domestication 3rd : Distribution
eeob.iastate.edu
“D”
“AD” “A”

47. Complex trait
 Many genes control the trait
 Each gene makes small contribution to the trait
 Genes interact among themselves
 Also influenced by the environment

48. Parent’s
generation
F1 generation
(Children)
F2 generation
(Grand children)
Simple trait
X
X

49. Parent’s
generation
X
F1
generation
X
F2 generation
Simple trait

50. Parent’s
generation F1 generation F2 generation
Complex trait
X
X

51. Complex trait
X
Parent’s generation
X
F1 generation
F2 generation

52. 20
30
10
Length
F2 generation
Complex trait
0
Yellow
200
300
Cream
100
Simple trait

53. Number of complex trait genes
Trait Chee et al., 2005 Sun et al., 2012
Fiber length 28 10
Fiber strength 22 10
Fiber fineness 9 10
Number of genes

54. Opportunities
 Negative association
between yield and fiber
quality
 Positive association
between different fiber
quality traits
Yield Quality
Yield Quality
Fiber length Fiber strength

55. Opportunities
 Narrow genetic diversity
of cultivated cotton
 50 different species with
tremendous genetic
diversity
crops.organbg.gov.au 128.192.141.98/CottonFiber/pages/iiPopulations/overview.aspx

56. Opportunities
 Genetically complex
trait
 Novel tools and
techniques
 Whole genome sequence
available
scientificamerican.com

57. Opportunities
 Genetically complex
trait
 Novel tools and
techniques
 Genetic blueprint
available
 Useful genes introduced
from related species into
upland cotton
Pima Hawaiian
flickr.com

58. Opportunities
 Genetically complex
trait
 Novel tools and
techniques
 genetic blueprint
available
 Useful genes introduced
from other species into
upland cotton
 Mutant lines of upland
cotton

59. Mutations create new genes
Parent Mutant Mutant trait
1.2 1.4 Extra long
Upper Half Mean Length (inch)
Below 0.99 Short
0.99-1.10 Medium
1.11-1.26 Long
Above 1.26 Extra Long
Fiber length
Patel et al, 2011

60. Mutations create new genes
Parent Mutant Mutant trait
31.6 42.5 Extra strong
Fiber strength
Fiber Strength (grams/tex)
<20 Very Weak
21-25 Weak
26-29 Base
30-32 Strong
>33 Very Strong
Patel et al, 2011

61. Mutations create new genes
Parent Mutant Mutant trait
5.3 4.0 Premium
Fiber fineness
Fiber Fineness/Maturity (Mic)
Premium 3.7-4.2
Base 3.5-3.6,
4.3-4.9
Discount <3.5, >4.9
Patel et al, 2011

62.  Better fibers – quality yarns – comfy cotton clothes
 Market demands better fiber quality in upland
cotton
 Simultaneous improvement in both the yields and
fiber quality is desirable, but challenging
 Novel tools and techniques offer new avenues of
improvement of fiber quality traits
Summary

63. Thank you
swicofil.com
cotton.org