MSU scientists help verify origin of cotton鈥檚 domestication
Contact: Vanessa Beeson
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥Cotton is the world鈥檚 leading source of natural textile fiber, but much of its genetic history remains a mystery. 幺力视频 scientists are part of an international team investigating when and where cotton was first domesticated. Their findings, , weave together a clearer picture of cotton鈥檚 genomic past while offering insight to help improve the crop鈥檚 future.
Researchers sequenced nearly 400 wild and domestic cotton plants across Florida, the Caribbean and Mexico. They traced modern cotton鈥檚 roots to Mexico鈥檚 驰耻肠补迟谩苍 Peninsula more than five millennia ago, uncovering genetic diversity that could help today鈥檚 breeders develop more resilient cotton.
Professor Dan Peterson, head of MSU鈥檚 Department of Biochemistry, Nutrition and Health Promotion and a Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientist, said the team confirmed a longstanding hypothesis that the Northwestern 驰耻肠补迟谩苍 Peninsula was the center of domestication of Gossypium hirsutum, known as upland cotton. Peterson noted wild specimens of the species hold valuable reservoirs of traits that could improve the crop today.
鈥淲hen breeders select plants for desirable traits, they create highly specialized cotton varieties but also reduce genetic diversity,鈥 he said. 鈥淎s diversity declines, so does the plant鈥檚 ability to withstand new threats. Protective genes can be lost during breeding, leaving modern cotton vulnerable to emerging diseases. That鈥檚 why wild cotton populations are vital. Their rich genetic diversity continues to evolve under natural environmental pressures, providing valuable traits for future breeding efforts.鈥
Peterson said researchers have studied the origin of cotton鈥檚 domestication for more than 75 years. Early scientists noticed much of cotton鈥檚 diversity appeared to originate in the 驰耻肠补迟谩苍, supported by closely related plant types and archaeological evidence of ancient people in the area using cotton.
鈥淲e鈥檙e confirming and building upon what earlier researchers discovered through years of painstaking work,鈥 Peterson said.
Sequencing a genome, he said, is like solving a jigsaw puzzle.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 read a chromosome from end to end. We must sequence then reassemble many DNA pieces. In the past, those pieces were very short, making the process incredibly complex. Recent advances allow us to sequence much longer DNA stretches,鈥 Peterson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the difference between solving a 100-piece puzzle compared to one with a million pieces.鈥
Tony Arick, interim director of the MSU Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology, said the modern process is easier and less expensive.
鈥淭he longer the DNA string, the better and easier it is to map. Using the jigsaw puzzle analogy, it鈥檚 much easier to see the big picture when there are fewer missing pieces,鈥 he said.
Iowa State University鈥檚 Corrinne Grover and Jonathan Wendel served as co-principal investigators on the research. In addition to Peterson and Arick, MSU IGBB collaborators include Chuan-Yu Hsu, Zenaida V. Magbanua and Olga Pechanova. The Universidad Nacional Aut贸noma de M茅xico, Universidad Aut贸noma de 驰耻肠补迟谩苍, University of Neuch芒tel, U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Agricultural Research Service and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences also contributed to the work. 聽聽 聽
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