UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
ATHENS, GEORGIA
Snider’s research lays the groundwork for improving cotton genetics, dovetailing closely with that of UGA cotton breeder Peng Chee, whose mission is to develop high-performing cotton with genetics tailored to the Southeast.
While Snider investigates how specific traits influence plant performance under stress, breeders like Chee must sift through thousands of potential genetic combinations to find the few that consistently deliver results in the field. But screening for physiological traits like heat tolerance or photosynthetic efficiency is often slow and labor-intensive – a bottleneck for breeding progress.
With support from a $795,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture, Snider will develop machine learning tools that can select key plant traits for heat tolerance in upland cotton, enabling researchers to evaluate hundreds of plants in seconds rather than hours.
Cotton for a changing world
Chee has spent more than 25 years leading cotton breeding efforts at UGA to develop elite germplasm adapted to Georgia’s growing conditions. These lines serve as the genetic foundation for commercial seed companies to build market-ready varieties.
While the result is improved seed, the process is meticulous and long term. It begins with selecting parent plants that carry desirable traits, crossing them to create hybrids, and then self-pollinating those hybrids over four to five generations to stabilize their genetics. Only then can researchers begin testing for yield, fiber quality and disease resistance – a process that can take another four or more years. It can take more than a decade to release a new variety.
To speed this up, Chee uses tools like DNA markers to screen plants for desirable traits early in the process, long before they’re grown in field trials. These markers act like shortcuts, helping breeders focus on the most promising lines.
“Think about bed sheets – the feel of a basic 300-thread-count sheet versus a premium 700-thread-count sheet comes down to fiber quality,” Chee said.
Unlocking cotton’s genetic potential
Cotton’s genetic history adds to the challenge. Of the four domesticated cotton species, Gossypium hirsutum – upland cotton – makes up 96% of global production. Today’s varieties trace to a limited genetic pool brought from Central America to the Southern U.S. in the 1700s. After two centuries of selective breeding, upland cotton is well adapted to U.S. conditions, but its genetic base has narrowed.
That’s why Chee and his collaborators are working to reintegrate genes that were left behind – what they call exotic genes. In their publication, “Exotic Genes May Improve Cotton Yield and Quality,” they show how these previously overlooked genes can provide valuable traits when reintroduced using both genomics and traditional breeding. “We’re once again understanding that diversity is the fuel of genetic progress,” Chee said. ∆
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
ATHENS, GEORGIA
LINK: https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/features/field-to-fabric-georgia-cotton/