Glen L. Ritchie

AtRAV1 and AtRAV2 overexpression in cotton increases fiber length differentially under drought stress and delays flowering.

There is a longstanding problem of an inverse relationship between cotton fiber qualities versus high yields. To better understand drought stress signaling and adaptation in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fiber development, we expressed the Arabidopsis transcription factors RELATED_TO_ABA-INSENSITIVE3/VIVIPAROUS1/(RAV1) and AtRAV2, which encode APETALA2-Basic3 domain proteins shown to repress transcription of FLOWERING_LOCUS_T (FT) and to promote stomatal opening cell-autonomously. In three years of field trials, we show that AtRAV1 and AtRAV2-overexpressing cotton had ∼5% significantly longer fibers with only marginal decreases in yields under well-watered or drought stress conditions that resulted in 40-60% yield penalties and 3-7% fiber length penalties in control plants. The longer transgenic fibers from drought-stressed transgenics could be spun into yarn which was measurably stronger and more uniform than that from well-watered control fibers. The transgenic AtRAV1 and AtRAV2 lines flowered later and retained bolls at higher nodes, which correlated with repression of endogenous GhFT-Like (FTL) transcript accumulation. Elevated expression early in development of ovules was observed for GhRAV2L, GhMYB25-Like (MYB25L) involved in fiber initiation, and GhMYB2 and GhMYB25 involved in fiber elongation. Altered expression of RAVs controlling critical nodes in developmental and environmental signaling hierarchies has the potential for phenotypic modification of crops.

Exploring ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) treated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to improve drought tolerance

The Texas High Plains often has extended periods between rainfall events, which can lead to a reduction in the yield and fiber quality of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). It is known that cultivated cotton suffers from low levels of genetic diversity due to the over-use in breeding of similar gene pools, which may hinder breeding for drought tolerance. In this study, for the first time the novel variability or genetic diversity of morphological and agronomic traits possibly created by the chemical mutagen ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) was evaluated to improve drought tolerance in cotton by traits’ response to different irrigation regimes. EMS is a chemical mutagen that has been shown to cause point mutations in the DNA of many model plants and crop species. Three EMS treated lines were advanced from the M1 to M4 generation as bulk-harvested populations. A diverse selection scheme was applied to capture most of the genetic trait-variability or diversity and superior lines in these populations. In 2014–2016 the diversity of these populations was evaluated based on four agronomic and thirteen morphological traits to determine differences in response to multiple irrigation rates. Analyses of these traits showed statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences between and within populations when compared to the original non-treated EMS source, with most of the variability being observed in the high irrigation rate. However, none of the EMS treated populations had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) better lint yield than the commercial cultivar (control) in 2016. EMS yield performance was possibly constrained by the applied diverse selection scheme of this study. Traits such as total number of bolls, bolls retained at node 7 and below, and those retained between nodes 8 and 12, and bolls retained at node of first fruiting branch may be predictors to improve cotton production (yield) in water limiting environments.