DOI: 10.14704/nq.2022.20.8.NQ44674

Genus Gossypium: history, economy, genetic origin, computational genomics and Ecuador as a reservoir of long staple cotton genetic resources

Ronald Oswaldo Villamar-Torres, Byron Oviedo-Bayas, Seyed Mehdi Jazayeri, Christopher Robin- Viot

Abstract

Domestication of Gossypium species occurred at least 8,000 years ago in four different regions of the world: Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. China, India, and the United States of America were the three countries with the highest cotton production, with 6,532, 6,423, and 3,553 of thousand metric tons respectively in 2017. About 18% of the world's cotton consumption by 2000 was required for herbivore control. This decreased a lot thanks to the use of biotechnological tools, which allowed obtaining insect and herbicide tolerance. There are cotton genomic databases with different genome annotation versions, which are frequently updated, allowing more precise research on gene expression, genomic selection, proteomics and prediction of the functions of specific proteins. Evidence shows that Gossypium barbadense was domesticated in the Gulf of Guayaquil region of Ecuador and that its wild forms still coexist with wild forms derived from traditional cultivars, and with cultivars of its allotetraploid sister G. hirsutum. To conserve and exploit these genetic resources, it is essential to differentiate them, elucidate their history (domestication), as well as their genetic relationships (gene flow), and understand their interspecific relationships between species.

Keywords

Cotton; economy; origin; biotechnology; Gossypium hirsutum; Gossypium barbadense.

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