Sequencing of the cotton genome

Cotton is an important fiber crop that is a mainstay of US and global economies – generating US revenues approaching $6 billion per annum, and as the world's leading natural fiber, sustains one of the world's largest industries – textiles. Cotton is also the second largest oilseed crop, and oil and meal by-products produce an additional yearly income of about $500 million. The genetic potential exists to enhance the strength and durability of cotton fiber to successfully compete with petroleum-based synthetic fibers such as polyester. Cotton fibers, composed of >96% cellulose, represent one of the purest forms of pure cellulose in nature. Cotton fibers have a long-standing history as a model system that remains unrivaled for seminal studies in understanding the mechanism of cellulose biosynthesis that will prove crucial for developing alternate bio-based energy sources. Moreover, cottonseed oil and seed byproducts offer as yet untapped sources for biofuel production. Drs. May and Mudge, in collaboration with the Texas Tech University (TTU) Cotton Fiber Biology Consortium, are characterizing the gene space and revealing the allelic and transcriptome architecture of the cotton genome by deep sequencing of a cotton (Gossypium) progenitor and a cultivated A-genome cotton species. Exploiting the very latest advances in next-generation deep sequencing technology, whole-genome shotgun (WGS) sequencing of the ancestral genome of Gossypioides kirkii is revealing gene content and organization in cotton lineages as a reference to undertake sequencing of more complex Gossypium genomes. These studies are funded by Texas Tech University.