Collection
Physiology and Pathology
Edited by:
Prof. Hezhong DONG, Cotton Research Centre, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
Prof. Zhiguo ZHOU, Nanjing Agricultural University, China

This thematic series is committed to encourage research community to share their main findings and results of the research on cotton physiology and pathology.
Sort by Default Latest Most read  
Please wait a minute...
  • Select all
    |
  • Article
    ZHANG Zhanqin, ZHANG Li, TIAN Haiyan, NIU Yuan, YANG Xiangkun
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2021, 4(03): 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-021-00091-7
    Background: The photosynthetic parameters of cotton plants may be modified by the timing of film removal during their growing period. This study was undertaken during 2015–2017 in Xinjiang, China, to determine to what extent the film mulching removal time, 1 and 10 days before the first irrigation and 1 day before the second irrigation after seedling emergence, influenced cotton's photosynthetic characteristics. The control group(CK) was film-mulched throughout the growth stages.Results: The results suggested the following:(1) Removing mulching-film within 50 days since seedling emergence had adverse effects on soil temperature and moisture.(2) Film-removal before the first or second irrigation after emergence improved the net photosynthetic rate in cotton's later flowering stage and its transpiration rate in mid and later flowering stages while enhancing the actual electron transport rate(ETR) and maximum electron transfer rate(ETRmax) between cotton photosystems I and II.(3) Film-removal treatment also increased cotton plants' tolerance to high irradiation after emergence, the trend was more pronounced in the early flowering stage in wetter years.(4) Leaf area index(LAI) of cotton was reduced in the film-removal treatment for which the least accumulation of dry matter occurred in a drought year(i.e., 2015).(5) Film removal caused a yield decrease in the dry year(2015), and the earlier the film was removed, the more seriously the yield decreased. Removing mulching film before the second irrigation could increase the yield of XLZ42 in the rainy year(2016) and the normal rainfall year(2017). Early film removal can increase the yield of XLZ45 in the rainy year(2016).Conclusions: Collectively, our study's experimental results indicate that applying mulch film removal at an appropriate,targeted time after seedling emergence had no adverse effects on soil moisture and temperature, and improved the photosynthetic performance of cotton, thus increased cotton yield and fiber quality, but no significant difference was reached.
  • Article
    CHAPEPA Blessing, MUDADA Nhamo, MAPURANGA Rangarirai
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2020, 3(03): 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-020-00059-z
    Light attenuation within a row of crops such as cotton is influenced by canopy architecture,which is defined by size,shape and orientation of shoot components.Level of light interception causes an array of morpho-anatomical,physiological and biochemical changes.Physiological determinants of growth include light interception,light use efficiency,dry matter accumulation,duration of growth and dry matter partitioning.Maximum light utilization in cotton production can be attained by adopting cultural practices that yields optimum plant populations as they affect canopy arrangement by modifying the plant canopy components.This paper highlights the extent to which spatial arrangement and density affect light interception in cotton crops.The cotton crop branches tend to grow into the inter-row space to avoid shade.The modification of canopy components suggests a shade avoidance and competition for light.Maximum leaf area index is obtained especially at flowering stage with higher populations which depicts better yields in cotton production.
  • Article
    ZHANG Xiangyue, FENG Zili, ZHAO Lihong, LIU Shichao, WEI Feng, SHI Yongqiang, FENG Hongjie, ZHU Heqin
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2020, 3(02): 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-020-00052-6
    Background: Verticillium wilt, caused by the soil-borne fungus of Verticillium dahliae Kleb., is one of the most devastating diseases of cotton. The complex mechanism underlying cotton resistance to Verticillium wilt remains uncharacterized. Identifying an endogenous resistance gene may be helpful to control this disease. Previous studies revealed that succinate dehydrogenase(SDH) is involved in reactive oxygen species(ROS)-induced stress signaling pathway that is likely to be triggered by salicylic acid(SA). Here, through the metabolomics and differential expression analyses in wilt-inoculated cotton(Gossypium hirsutum), we noticed that Gh SDH1–1 gene in cotton may play an important role in the resistance to V. dahlia. Then we reported Gh SDH1–1 gene and its functional analysis in relation to the resistance of cotton to V. dahliae.Results: The Gh SDH1–1 gene in cotton root was significantly up-regulated after V. dahlia inoculation, and its expression level peaked at 12 and 24 h post-infection. SA can also induce the up-regulation of Gh SDH1–1.Additionally, the functional analysis showed that Gh SDH1–1-silenced cotton was more susceptible to V. dahliae than the control because of the significant decrease in abundance of immune-related molecules and severe damage to the SA-signaling pathway. In Arabidopsis thaliana, high expression of Gh SDH1–1 conferred high resistance to V.dahliae. Arabidopsis that overexpressed Gh SDH1–1 had higher resistance to V. dahliae infection compared with the wild-type.Conclusions: Our findings provide new insights into the role of Gh SDH1–1; it positively regulates cotton resistance to Verticillium wilt. The regulatory mechanism of Gh SDH1–1 is closely related to SA-related signaling pathway.
  • Article
    QIU Tingting, WANG Yanjun, JIANG Juan, ZHAO Jia, WANG Yanqing, QI Junsheng
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2020, 3(02): 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-020-00047-3
    Background: Gossypium hirsutum is highly susceptible to Verticillium wilt, and once infected Verticillium wilt, its yield is greatly reduced. But G. barbadense is highly resistant to Verticillium wilt. It is possible that transferring some disease-resistant genes from G. barbadense to G. hirsutum may contribute to G. hirsutum resistance to Verticillium wilt.Result: Here, we described a new gene in G. barbadense encoding AXMN Toxin Induced Protein-11, Gb At11, which is specifically induced by Verticillium dahliae in G. barbadense and enhances Verticillium wilt resistance in G.hirsutum. Overexpression in G. hirsutum not only significantly improves resistance to Verticillium wilt, but also increases the boll number per plant. Transcriptome analysis and real-time polymerase chain reaction showed that Gb At11 overexpression can simultaneously activate FLS2, BAK1 and other genes, which are involved in ETI and PTI pathways in G. hirsutum.Conclusion: These data suggest that Gb At11 plays a very important role in resistance to Verticillium wilt in cotton.And it is significant for improving resistance to Verticillium wilt and breeding high-yield cotton cultivars.
  • Article
    SIKDER Ripon Kumar, WANG Xiangru, JIN Dingsha, ZHANG Hengheng, GUI Huiping, DONG Qiang, PANG Nianchang, ZHANG Xiling, SONG Meizhen
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2020, 3(02): 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-020-00049-1
    Background: Salt stress significantly inhibits the growth, development, and productivity of cotton because of osmotic, ionic, and oxidative stresses. Therefore, the screening and development of salt tolerant cotton cultivars is a key issue towards sustainable agriculture. This study subjected 11 upland cotton genotypes at the seedling growth stage to five different salt concentrations and evaluated their salt tolerance and reliable traits.Results: Several morpho-physiological traits were measured after 10 days of salinity treatment and the salt tolerance performance varied significantly among the tested cotton genotypes. The optimal Na Cl concentration for the evaluation of salt tolerance was 200 mmol·L-1. Membership function value and salt tolerance index were used to identify the most consistent salt tolerance traits. Leaf relative water content and photosynthesis were identified as reliable indicators for salt tolerance at the seedling stage. All considered traits related to salt tolerance indices were significantly and positively correlated with each other except for malondialdehyde. Cluster heat map analysis based on the morpho-physiological salt tolerance-indices clearly discriminated the 11 cotton genotypes into three different salt tolerance clusters. Cluster I represented the salt-tolerant genotypes(Z9807, Z0228, and Z7526) whereas clusters II(Z0710, Z7514, Z1910, and Z7516) and III(Z0102, Z7780, Z9648, and Z9612) represented moderately salttolerant and salt-sensitive genotypes, respectively.Conclusions: A hydroponic screening system was established. Leaf relative water content and photosynthesis were identified as two reliable traits that adequately represented the salt tolerance of cotton genotypes at the seedling growth stage. Furthermore, three salt-tolerant genotypes were identified, which might be used as genetic resources for the salt-tolerance breeding of cotton.
  • Article
    LIU Zhenyu, ELTAYIB H M.A.Abidallha, WU Huimin, ZHOU Mingyuan, ZHANG Xiang, CHEN Yuan, CHEN Dehua
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2019, 2(04): 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-019-0042-1
    The bollworm can be controlled effectively with Bacillus thuringiensis transgenic cotton (Bt cotton) which is being applied worldwide.However,the insecticidal efficacy is not stable.Here we give a summary of research progress for the mechanism of the altered insecticidal efficacy,factors affecting the expression of insect resistance,agronomic practices on regulation of insecticidal efficacy in Bt cotton.To realize the transgenic potential of Bt cotton cultivars,future research may be conducted by increasing synthesis and reducing degradation of Bt protein to maintain high insecticidal ability in the transgenic cotton by agronomic management.
  • Article
    HU Wei, SUI Ning, YU Chaoran, YANG Changqin, LIU Ruixian, ZHOU Zhiguo
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2019, 2(04): 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-019-0040-3
    Background:Crop residue incorporation into the soil is an effective method to augment soil potassium (K)content and effects of crop residue and K fertilizer on soil K balance have been compared.However,their influences on other soil characteristics such as carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) characteristics and microbial activities have not been quantified.To address this,field experiments were conducted in 2011 at Dafeng (sandy loam) and Nanjing (clay loam) in China with treatments including blank control without crop residue incorporation and K fertilizer application,0.9t·ha~(-1) wheat straw incorporation (W1C0),0.7t·ha~(-1) cotton residue incorporation (W0C1),0.9t·ha~(-1) wheat straw+0.7t·ha~(-1) cotton residue incorporation (W1C1) and two K fertilizer rates (150 and 300kg·ha~(-1)(K_2O)) during the cotton season.Results:Compared with control,K fertilizer treatments did not alter soil water-soluble organic carbon/soil organic carbon (WSOC/SOC) ratio,microbial biomass carbon (MBC)/SOC ratio,MBC/microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) ratio,water inorganic nitrogen/total nitrogen ratio (WIN/TN),the number of cellulose-decomposing bacteria,or related enzymes activities,however,W0C1,W1C0 and W1C1 treatments significantly increased WSOC/SOC ratio,MBC/SOC ratio and MBC/MBN ratio,and decreased WIN/TN ratio at both sites.W0C1,W1C0 and W1C1 treatments also increased the number of soil cellulose-decomposing bacteria and activities of cellulase,β-glucosidase and arylamidase.Regarding different crop residue treatments,W1C0 and W1C1 treatments had more significant influences on above mentioned parameters than W0C1 treatment.Moreover,MBC/MBN ratio was the most important factor to result in the differences in the number of cellulose-decomposing bacteria and soil enzymes activities among different treatments.Conclusions:Short-term K fertilizer application doesn't affect soil C and N availability and microbial activities.However,crop residue incorporation alters soil C and N characteristics and microbial activities,and the influence of wheat straw is much stronger than that of cotton straw.
  • Article
    LI Pengcheng, WANG Shulin, Qi Hong, WANG Yan, ZHANG Qian, FENG Guoyi, ZHENG Cangsong, YU Xueke, LIN Yongzeng, DONG Helin
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2019, 2(04): 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-019-0038-x
    Background:Long-term rotary tillage has led to the deterioration of cotton production in northern China.This deterioration is due to the disturbance of topsoil,a dense plough pan at the 20-50 cm depth,and the decreased water storage capacity.A 2-yr field experiment was performed from 2014 to 2015 to explore a feasible soil tillage approach to halting the deterioration.The experiment consisted of four treatments:replacing the topsoil from the0-15 cm layer with the subsoil from the 15-30 cm layer (T1);replacing the topsoil from the 0-20 cm layer with the subsoil from the 20-40 cm layer and subsoiling at the 40-55 cm layer (T2);replacing the topsoil from the 0-20 cm layer with the subsoil from the 20-40 cm layer and subsoiling at the 40-70 cm layer (T3);and conventional surface rotary tillage within 15 cm as the control (CK).Results:The results indicated that the soil bulk densities at the 20-40 cm layer in T2 were 0.13 g·cm~(-3) and 0.15g·cm~(-3)lower than those obtained from CK in 2014 and 2015,respectively.The total nitrogen (N) and the available phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contents from the 20-40 cm layer in T2 and T3 were significantly higher than those in CK and T1.The amount of soil water stored in the 0-40 cm layer of T2 at the squaring stage of cotton was 15.3 mm and 13.4 mm greater than that in CK in 2014 and 2015,respectively,when the weather was dry.Compared with CK,T2 increased cotton lint yield by 6.1 and 10.2 percentage points in 2014 and 2015,respectively,which was due to the improved roots within the 20-60 cm layer,the greater number of bolls per plant and the higher boll weight in the T2 treatment.Conclusions:The results suggested that soil replacement plus subsoiling would be a good alternative to current practices in order to break through the bottleneck constraining cotton production in northern China.Replacing the topsoil in the 0-20 cm layer with the soil from the 20-40 cm layer plus subsoiling at the 40-55 cm layer would be the most effective method.
  • Article
    SHAN Yi, ZHAO Peng, LIU Zhao, LI Fangjun, TIAN Xiaoli
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2019, 2(03): 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-019-0032-3
    Background:Soil salinity seriously affects cotton growth,leading to the reduction of yield and fiber quality.Recently,genetic engineering has become an efficient tool to increase abiotic stress tolerance in crops.Results:In this study,isopentyl transferase(IPT),a key enzyme involved in cytokinin(CTK) biosynthesis from Agrobacterium tumefaciens,was selected to generate transgenic cotton via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.A senescence-inducible SAG12 promoter from Arabidopsis was fused with the IPT gene.Ectopic-expression of SAG12::IPT significantly promoted seed germination or seedling tolerance to salt stress.Two IPTtransgenic lines,OE3 as a tolerant line during seed germination,and OE8 as a tolerant line at seedling stage,were selected for further physiological analysis.The data showed that ectopic-expression of SAG12::IPT induced the accumulation of CTKs not only in leaves and roots,but also in germinating seeds.Moreover,ectopic-expressing IPT increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes,which was associated with the less reactive oxygen species(ROS) accumulation compared with control plants.Also,ectopic-expression of IPT produced higher K~+/Na~+ratio in cotton shoot and root Conclusion:The senescence-induced CTK accumulation in cotton seeds and seedlings positively regulates salt stress partially by elevating ROS scavenging capability.
  • Article
    ZHAO Wenqing, YAN Qiang, YANG Hongkun, YANG Xiaoni, WANG Leran, CHEN Binglin, MENG Yali, ZHOU Zhiguo
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2019, 2(02): 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-019-0026-1
    Background:Cottonseed oil and protein content as well as germination traits are major indicators of seed quality.However,the responses of these indicators to plant density and mepiquat chloride(MC) are still uncertain.To investigate plant density and MC effects on cottonseed yield and main quality parameters,we conducted a twoyear field experiment including four plant densities(1.35,2.55,3.75 and 4.95 plants-m~(-2)) and two doses of MC(0 and135 g·hm~(-2)) in Dafeng,Jiangsu Province,in 2013 and 2014.Results:The application of MC reduced plant height,fruit branch length and fruiting branch number under different plant densities,resulting in a lower and more compact plant canopy.Cottonseed yield showed a nonlinear increase as plant density increasing and achieved the highest value at 3.75 plants·m-2,regardless of MC application.No significant interactions were found between plant density and MC for cottonseed yield and quality parameters.The 100-seed weight cottonseed oil content and vigor index significantly decreased as plant density increased,while these parameters significantly increased with MC applying under different plant densities.Seed vigor index was positively correlated with 100-seed weight and seed oil content across different plant densities and MC treatments.Conclusions:Thus,application of MC could realize a win-win situation between cottonseed yield and main quality parameters under various densities;and plant density of 3.75 plants-m~(-2) combined with 135 g·hm~(-2) of MC applying is optimal for high cottonseed yield and quality in this cotton production area.
  • Article
    TAMBEL Leila.I.M., ZHOU Mingyuan, CHEN Yuan, ZHANG Xiang, CHEN Yuan, CHEN Dehua
    Journal of Cotton Research. 2019, 2(01): 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-019-0023-4
    Background:Low insecticidal protein expression at reproductive organs affect insect resistance in Bt transgenic cotton.In order to enhance flower insecticidal protein expression,the conventional cultivar Sikang1(S1)and the hybrid cultivar Sikang3(S3)were used as experimental materials;the applications of selected 5 types of amino acids and 21 types of amino acids were sprayed on the flowers in 2016 and 2017 cotton growing seasons.Results:The flower Bt protein contents increased significantly under the two amino acid treatments in both cultivars,the Bt protein concentration increased by 15.2 to 25.8%compared with the control.However,no significant differences were detected between the two treatments of amino acid application.Increased amino acid and soluble protein contents,enhanced GPT,GOT,protease,and peptidase activities were observed under the amino acid application at the flowering stage.Conclusions:These results suggest that exterior application of the amino acids treatments could bolster the flower insecticidal protein expression.