Description:
In many countries cotton (Gossypium spp.) is one of the most important fiber producing plants. The main concerns in growing cotton are the inverse relationship between cotton fiber qualities and high yields. The disclosed technology proposes a way to solve the problem of growing immature and short cotton fibers caused by drought stress. There currently are no known solutions to this problem, other than traditional breeding with the modification of particular genes involved in cotton maturation. The technology shows that RAV genes are indeed important for plant hormone abscisic acid and environmental signaling roles in fiber quality.
Reference Number: D-1081
Market Applications:
- Agricultural biotechnology
- GMO crops
Features, Benefits, & Advantages:
RAV overexpression in cotton increases fiber length and delays flowering via up-regulation of genes involved in fiber initiation and fiber elongation, as well as down-regulation of genes involved in flowering initiation.
- Drought tolerance
- No flowering of immature plants
- No short cotton fibers
Intellectual Property:
A U.S. Provisional patent application, 62/089567 was filed on 12/09/2014.
Development Stage:
This technology has been tested in the field.
Researchers:
Christopher Rock, Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
Publications:
Keywords:
• Drought resistance
• Transgenic cotton
• Abscisic acid (ABA)
• Fiber elongation