ADVANCING COTTON FIBER QUALITY THROUGH HIGH-THROUGHPUT PHENOTYPING MICROSCOPY AND GENETIC ANALYSIS

Our overarching goals are to: develop a scalable, microscopy-based individual cotton fiber phenotyping platform that minimizes bias and reduces type II errors associated with current techniques. The ultimate vision is to quantitatively capture a wide range of essential fiber measurements, enabling a thorough understanding of the genetic basis of key cotton fiber quality traits with high precision. We will leverage unique genomic/genetic/population resources already collected in a currently active USDA-AFRI (2021-11395) project aimed to genetically dissect cottonseed oil and fusarium wilt traits to genetically map a multitude of fiber quality traits high resolution. We aim to identify functional alleles and biomarkers diagnostic of key fiber quality traits. The research outcomes will directly benefit breeders, growers, and allied scientists across public, private, and non-profit industries. In the short term, we aim to apply these outcomes to enable precise and larger genetic gains in fiber quality with a vision of developing cotton lines with the yield potential of Uplands and the fiber quality of Pimas enhancing the profitability, resilience, and sustainability of farming operations. This project will lay the foundation for producing high-yielding designer cottons with improved functional properties, making them more competitive with synthetic alternatives and reducing environmental impacts. Through our efforts, we anticipate significant progress in the cotton farming and processing industries, offering valuable advantages to stakeholders and contributing to a more sustainable and competitive future for natural fibers.