Progress 09/15/05 to 09/14/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Several individual projects are associated with the overall 2005-38868-02376 program (International Cotton Research Center). These include: 1) Genetic Engineering of Cotton rhizobacteria for phosphate solubilization, 2) Creation and field-testing of transgenic cotton engineered for higher drought- and salt-tolerance, 3) Using fiber elongation to improve genetic screening in cotton breeding programs, 4) Physical mapping of genes that mediate phytohormone responses in cotton fiber, 5) Utilization of wild cottons for fiber property enhancement, 6) Unraveling the genetics behind fiber quality, 7) Selection of cotton genotype with stable lint yields and fiber quality across differential levels of soil moisture, 8) Incorporation of acala and pima quality into cotton varieties adapted to the Texas South Plains, 9) CottonLink, 10) Utilization of ginned fiber for the examination of white speck content in Texas cotton, 11) Novel nonwoven cotton composites for national security, and 12) Micro-spinning application in cotton breeding. Notable accomplishments/findings associated with these studies include: 1) development of new sources of non-transgenic selective herbicide tolerance that will reduce Texas cotton industry's dependence on transgenic technologies, 2) identified cotton genotypes which produce optimum cotton yields under both dryland and supplemental irrigation to help stabilize our agricultural economy and reduce input cost, 3) identified simply inherited genes that essentially eliminate linters on cottonseed, which improves lint quality and increases the oil content of the cottonseed from 17.6% to 19.5%, 4) developed an instrument for rapid measurement of fabric smoothness (i.e., degree of wrinkling) which has been licensed to an international firm, 5) developed a reference method for measuring the fineness and maturity of cotton fibers and established an inventory of 104 reference cottons for use in validation and calibration of high-speed instruments developed to measure these fiber properties, 6) developed mechanism to become the primary U.S. resource for evaluating fiber properties of new genotypes developed through breeding and biotechnology, 7) demonstrated through comparative tests of spinning performance and yarn quality that a significant portion of cottons produced on the Texas Plains compare favorably with cottons grown throughout the U.S. for ring-spun yarns used to manufacture the higher-valued textile products, and 8) determined that the development of a media resource guide (CottonLink) has increased the number of cotton related articles by 31% in the Texas print media. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
These studies will provide information which will be of benefit to producers and the regional cotton industry. Reducing Texas cotton industry's dependence on transgenic technologies could save cotton producers up to $12 per acre in technology fees on over 2 million acres ($24 million statewide annually). Developed cotton genotypes which produce optimum cotton yields under both dryland and supplemental irrigation will add approximately $50 of income per acre. If grown on 2 million acres, these cultivars will generate over $100 million of farm income. Incorporation of genes that eliminate linters on cottonseed could save cotton growers an estimated $2.10 per acre ($12.2 million annually) in seed costs while reducing dependence on gas-acid and dilute sulfuric acid delinting. The information generated from these projects will largely help producers reduce the impact of biotic and abiotic stresses on the cotton plants, help producers in reducing production costs and dependence on transgenic technologies. The manufacture and sale of instruments for rapid measurement of fabric smoothness should generate $5-$10 million annually in economic activity, while the savings in testing costs and contractual disputes should amount to $10-$20 million annually. The development of the reference method for measuring the fineness and maturity of cotton fibers would greatly improve (1) the competitiveness of cotton with other textile fibers, and (2) the competitiveness of production regions that could provide the information to the market. The additional revenue to the Texas cotton crop would likely be $75-$150 million annually. Favorable comparative spinning performance and yarn quality of cottons produced on the Texas Plains has fostered sales of Texas cottons into markets making ring-spun yarns and has caused price discounts to narrow by about 3 cents per pound relative to the historical average, which implies increased revenues of about $80 million per year.
Publications
- Auld, D. L., E. Bechere, M. Krifa, H. Kebede, E. Hequet, R. Wright, S. Misra. Registration of Raider 276 (Holland 338-276-1-3-4), a High Yielding, Improved Quality Upland Mutant Cotton Cultivar. Journal of Plant Registration, 1(2007): 115-116.
- Abidi, N., E. Hequet, L. Cabrales, J. Gannaway, T. Wilkins, L. W. Wells. Evaluating Cell Wall Structure and Composition of Developing Cotton Fibers using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Thermogravimetric Analysis. Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 107(2008): 476-486.
- Abidi, N., E. Hequet, and D. Ethridge. Thermogravimetric Analysis of Cotton Fibers: Relationships with Maturity and Fineness. Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 103(2006): 3476-3482.
- Bechere, E., D. Auld, R. G. Cantrell, E. Hequet, M. Krifa, S. Misra, and C. W. Smith. Registration of TTU 0774-3-3 and 0808-1-6-1 Upland Cotton Germplasm Lines with Improved Fiber Length and Strength. Journal of Plant Registration. 1(2007): 58-59.
- Benzina, H., E. Hequet, A. Abidi, J. Drean, O. Harzallah. Using Fiber Elongation to Improve Genetic Screening in Cotton Breeding Programs. Textile Research Journal. 77(2007): 770-778.
- He, C., G. Shen, V. Pusapula, J. Luo, S. Venkataramani, X. Qiu, S. Kuppu, D. Kornyeyev, A. S. Holaday, D. Auld, E. Blumwald, H. Zhang. Ectopic Expression of AtNHX1 in Cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum) Enhances Salt Tolerance and Improves Photosynthetic Performance. Journal of Cotton Science. 11(2007): 266-274.
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