BACKGROUND Characterizing the spatial patterns of gene flow from transgenic crops is challenging, making it difficult to design containment strategies for markets that regulate the adventitious presence of transgenes. Insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton is planted on millions of hectares annually and is a potential source of transgene flow. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here we m...

In cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production, the amount of fertilizer input along with plant demand for nutrients can be substantial throughout the growing season. Although conventional fertilization has been instrumental in improving cotton yields, there are drawbacks that accompany their use such as nutrient groundwater leaching and surface runoff, substantial amounts of fossil fuel consumpt...

In order to evaluate the functions of putative transcriptional regulatory regions of cotton genes, the upstream regulatory sequences (promoters) of two cotton genes, Gh-sp (seed protein) and Gh-rbcS (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit), were fused with a bb-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene and the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S terminator. These two gene constructs were t...

Similar Cry proteins are expressed in both Bt corn, Zea mays L., and cotton, Gossypium hirsutum (L.), commercial production systems. At least one generation of corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), completes development on field corn in the Mid-South before dispersing across the landscape into other crop hosts like cotton. A concern is that Bt corn hybrids may result in selection for H. zea p...

Polyamines have been associated with a large number of plant growth and developmental processes. In particular, they have been associated with floral initiation with increased polyamines concentration occurring during flowering in horticulture plants. However, there is limited information about polyamines in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and how they are distributed in the cotton plant. In add...

The growth regulator, PIX (mepiquat chloride l,l-dimethyl-piperdinium chloride), when applied to cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and pecan (Carya illinoensis Koch), caused internode shortening. PIX did not elicit an increase in resistance in cotton to the tobacco budworm[Heliothis virescens (Fab.)], or in pecan to pecan scab (Cladosporium caryigenum (Ell. et Lang) Gottwald]. Also, changes in con...

Effective use of Gossypium hirsutum L. lines in cotton genetic improvement programs depends on the extent of genetic variation for desirable alleles and the accurate characterization of the variability among germplasm accessions. Marker assisted selection has provided the potential for efficient development of disease and pest resistant plants. Association mapping is used to identify chromosoma...

The centromere is a repeat-rich structure essential for chromosome segregation; with the long-term aim of understanding centromere structure and function, we set out to identify cotton centromere sequences. To isolate centromere-associated sequences from cotton, (Gossypium hirsutum) we surveyed tandem and dispersed repetitive DNA in the genus. Centromere-associated elements in other plants incl...

Because of the great commercial importance of cotton fibers, their structure at various stages of development has been carefully studied. An indication of the work that has been done along this line may be gained from the papers of Dischendorfer {6),^ Youngman and Pande {63), and Kerr {21), which give a number of literature citations. Structure of the seed {I4, v, 3; 32; 33; 34; 35; 36; 37) and...

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) seeds are susceptible to low temperature and excess moisture in soil during seed emergence in years with high rainfall and low temperature in spring. Therefore, a two-year field experiment was carried out to evaluate effects of ridge tillage formed in autumn (RT-I), ridge tillage formed about a month before planting (RT-II) and flat conventional tillage (CT) culti...