Identification of candidate genes for early-maturity traits by combining BSA-seq and QTL mapping in upland cotton(Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Cotton breeding for the development of early-maturing varieties is an effective way to improve multiple cropping indexes and alleviate the conflict between grains and cotton in the cultivated fields in China.In the present study,we aimed to identify upland cotton quantitative trait loci(QTLs)and candidate genes related to early-maturity traits,including whole growth period(WGP),flowering timing(FT),node of the first fruiting branch(NFFB),height of the node of the first fruiting branch(HNFFB),and plant height(PH).An early-maturing variety,CCRI50,and a latematuring variety,Guoxinmian 11,were crossed to obtain biparental populations.These populations were used to map QTLs for the early-maturity traits for two years(2020 and 2021).With BSA-seq analysis based on the data of population 2020,the candidate regions related to early maturity were found to be located on chromosome D03.We then developed 22 polymorphic insertions or deletions(InDel)markers to further narrow down the candidate regions,resulting in the detection of five and four QTLs in the 2020 and 2021 populations,respectively.According to the results of QTL mapping,two candidate regions(InDel_G286-InDel_G144 and InDel_G24-InDel_G43)were detected.In these regions,three genes(GH_D03G0451,GH_D03G0649,and GH_D03G1180)have nonsynonymous mutations in their exons and one gene(GH_D03G0450)has SNP variations in the upstream sequence between CCRI50 and Guoxinmian 11.These four genes also showed dominant expression in the floral organs.The expression levels of GH_D03G0451,GH_D03G0649 and GH_D03G1180 were significantly higher in CCRI50 than in Guoxinmian 11 during the bud differentiation stages,while GH_D03G0450 showed the opposite trend.Further functional verification of GH_D03G0451 indicated that the GH_D03G0451-silenced plants showed a delay in the flowering time.The results suggest that these are the candidate genes for cotton early maturity,and they may be used for breeding early-maturity cotton varieties.

Intellectual Property Protection and High-quality Development of Cotton Industry in Xinjiang

This paper firstly introduces the general situation of cotton planting areas in China and cotton industry in Xinjiang,and the current situation of intellectual property protection of Xinjiang's cotton industry.Then,it analyzes the main problems in its intellectual property protection and high-quality development.On this basis,it comes up with the recommendations for high-quality development of cotton industry in Xinjiang under the strategy of strengthening the country with intellectual property.The recommendations include improving the level of creation of creative intellectual property rights,building an intellectual property rule system in the entire cotton industry chain in Xinjiang,building protected zones for production of major high quality agricultural product cotton,establishing a demonstration zone to undertake the transfer of the domestic cotton textile and garment industry,undertaking education on the sense of community for the Chinese nation in response to the Xinjiang cotton incident,and developing the"Belt and Road"blue market for Xinjiang cotton and its products.

Research and Development of New High-quality Short-season Cotton Varieties and the Industrial Application of High Efficiency Technologies in Shandong Province——Based on the Innovation of Building a Green and Efficient Farming System

Through the analysis of the impact of changes in the cotton planting industry on cotton production structure and benefit in Shandong under the national cotton production pattern in past ten years,based on the guarantee of food security and the overall ecological regional layout of Shandong s agricultural characteristic and advantageous industries,we proposed that through the development of high-quality short-season cotton and the industrial application of high-efficiency technologies,a green and high-efficiency farming system should be established to comprehensively reduce cotton planting costs,improve comparative benefits,and realize green and efficient optimization technologies that unify the stable production of cotton and high-quality cotton supply and the industrial path supported by the new industrial model.It is aimed to speed up the upgrading and transformation of the existing traditional cotton cropping system,reconstruct a ternary structure of grains,economic crops and fodder in the ecological suitable cotton areas and sub-suitable cotton areas in Shandong,and maintain a series of new green and ecological cotton rotation industrial models including the“double security”of the grain and cotton industries,the ecological“double superiority”of "cotton and fodder",and the high-efficiency"double increase"of cotton and garlic,providing a certain foundation for the research on technological integration innovation and industrial structure optimization of the green,efficient and high-quality development and transformation of the cotton industry in Shandong during the"14 th Five-Year Plan"period.

Cotton Breeding in Xinjiang and Its Intellectual Property Protection

In 2021,Xinjiang's cotton output was 5.129 million t,accounting for 89.50%of China's total.The autonomous region produces high-quality long-staple cotton,natural colored cotton,fine-staple cotton(upland cotton),organic cotton,etc.The southern Xinjiang cotton area is one of the three major long-staple cotton(island cotton)producing regions in the world.This paper introduced the history of cotton planting and breeding in Xinjiang from the aspects of cultural relics records,history of entering Xinjiang,historical achievements of breeding and breeding leaders.We studied the intellectual property protection of cotton breeding in the autonomous region from the aspects of biological genetic resources,invention patents,utility model patents and new plant varieties,analyzed the six main problems existing in cotton breeding and its intellectual property protection,and discussed the tactics for cotton breeding and its intellectual property protection in Xinjiang under the strategy of strengthening the country with intellectual property.Eight suggestions in response to the Xinjiang cotton incident were also put forward,including establishing a Xinjiang national cotton germplasm nursery,protecting biological genetic resources,and strengthening the protection of creative intellectual property rights in the field of breeding to escort technological innovation in the cotton seed industry.

A genome-wide association study of early-maturation traits in upland cotton based on the CottonSNP8oK array

Genome-wide association studies （GWASs） efficiently identify genetic loci controlling traits at a relatively high resolution. In this study, variations in major early-maturation traits, including seedling period （SP）, bud period （BP）, flower and boll period （FBP）, and growth period （GP）, of 169 upland cotton accessions were investigated, and a GWAS of early maturation was performed based on a CottonSNPSoK array. A total of 49,650 high-quality single-nucleotide polymorphisms （SNPs） were screened, and 29 significant SNPs located on chromosomes A6, A7, A8, D% D2, and D9, were repeatedly identified as associated with early-maturation traits, in at least two environments or two algorithms. Of these 29 significant SNPs, I, 12, 11, and 5 were related to SP, BP, FBP, and GP, respectively. Six peak SNPs, TM47967,TM13732, TM2o937, TM28428, TM5o283, and TM72552, exhibited phenotypic contributions of approximately lo%, which could allow them to be used for marker-assisted selection. One of these, TM72552, as well as four other SNPs, TM72554, TM72555, TM72558, and TM72559, corresponded to the quantitative trait loci previously reported. In total, 274 candidate genes were identified from the genome sequences of upland cotton and were categorized based on their functional annotations. Finally, our studies identified Gh_DoIGo34o and Gh_DoIGo34~ as potential candidate genes for improving cotton early maturity.