Climate Smart Cotton: Integrative Genomics, Breeding and Biotechnological Strategies for Sustainable Fiber Production.

Haiqa Mustafa; Dilrabo K. Ernazarova

doi:10.66432/zb3xpk74

Haiqa Mustafa * Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan. , Dilrabo K. Ernazarova Institute of Genetics and Plant Experimental Biology, Academy of Sciences, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

* Corresponding author: haiqamustafa217@gmail.com

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.66432/zb3xpk74

Keywords:

Cotton, Climate-smart agriculture, Abiotic stress, Tolerance, Genomic Selection, Genome wide association studies, CRISPR-Cas, Molecular breeding

Abstract

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is a significant fiber crop in the world but its productivity, as well as sustainability is being limited by climate-related pressure such as drought, salinity, heat, and increased pest pressure. Although traditional breeding has enhanced yield and fiber quality, the breeding process is not always precise and efficient to provide the ability to respond to complex and multigenic stress-adaptive traits. This review brings together recent innovations on cotton improvement by combining the use of genomic tool, the use of the concept of molecular breeding and the contemporary biotechnological tools. We show the advances in the study of the physiological and molecular pathways of abiotic stress tolerance, including osmotic regulation, ion homeostasis, and heat-shock responses. The discovery of traits and identification of functional alleles has been made faster by the developments of genome-wide association studies, quantitative trait locus mapping, and multi-omics platforms. Moreover, new technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing, RNA interference, genotype-independent systems of transformation, and genomic selection, are changing the breeding pipelines, that is, they enable the rapid and specific creation of multi-stress-resilient cultivars. The review focuses on integrative and data-driven breeding models with successful help of seed systems and international cooperation to deploy genomic innovation into climate-sensitive cotton varieties. Taken together, these developments make cotton improvement a systems science with the potential to maintain the productivity of fibers and financial sustainability amidst fluctuating climatic conditions.

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