Chinese researchers find new mechanism to improve quality of cotton fiber

A cotton picker is seen working in fields in Xayar County, Aksu Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo by Liu Yuzhu/Xinhua)

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers recently discovered a plant hormone which can regulate cotton fiber growth and is expected to improve the quality of cotton fiber.

Cotton is an important cash crop in China and the main raw material used by the textile industry, which means that cotton fiber's quality determines the quality of textiles.

Brassinosteroid (BR), a growth-promoting phytohormone, regulates many plant growth processes, including cell development. However, the mechanism by which BR regulates fiber growth was poorly understood.

Researchers from the Institute of Cotton Research under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences discovered that BR can promote the molecular mechanism of cotton fiber elongation by modulating very-long-chain fatty acid biosynthesis.

Several key genes that regulate important characteristics of cotton can all be used as technical reserves to guide cotton production in the future, said Li Fuguang, leader of the research team.

"Next, we will continue to study whether BR plays a role in other ways, hoping to realize the transformation of sci-tech achievements to boost agricultural production," he said.

The researchers published their study results in three journals namely Plant Cell, Plant Physiology and Plant Biotechnology Journal.