An international cooperation teamled by professor Zhang Tianzhen and Chen Zengjian from State Key Laboratory ofCrop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement in Nanjing Agriculture University (inshort: NAU) has completed the genome sequencing of upland cotton. The relatedresearch result delivered in Sequencingof Allotetraploid Cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum L. acc. TM-1) Provides A Resourcefor Fiber Improvement has been published on Nature Biotechnology.

Uplandcotton is the most important cotton variety in the world and it accounts formore than 90 percent of global cotton acreage. China is the largest producer ofcotton, and it is also the largest textile country and the largest textileexporting country in the world. Cotton manufacturing industry plays a veryimportant role in the development of national economy. Although upland cottonoccupied a core position in cotton industry, it was difficult to carry out thesequencing work of related whole genome because of the complexity ofallotetraploid heritage. This result has made use of the latest sequencingplatform Illumina HiSeq2500. Combining with 170,000 couple of BAC end sequencesand nearly 5 million high-density SNP genetic maps, the researcherssuccessfully constructed a high quality whole genome map of upland cotton. Theyanalyzed the asymmetric evolutionary mechanism of two genomes in allotetraploidcotton and found a branch of the gene family which played an important role infiber development. Many glucose metabolism genes such as cellulose synthase inupland cotton received a significant positive selection and it was directlyrelated to the cotton quality improvement. The completion of upland cottongenome sequencing would greatly promote the research of cotton genomics, andplay an important role in researching the genetic improvement of cotton andbasic biology.

Upland cotton genome sequencingproject was strongly supported by 973 programs, National Natural ScienceFoundation and central college basic scientific research operating expense.Project participants include Nanjing Agricultural University, Novogene Bioinformatics Technology Co.Ltd, University of Texas at Austin, Institute of Plant Physiology &Ecology, SIBS, CAS and so on.

Time: 2015.5.4

Source: Science and TechnologyDaily