Intensive cultivation and selective breeding have drastically narrowed the genetic diversity of Upland cotton, making crops more vulnerable to diseases, pests and climate change while limiting further quality improvements, the research team led by Li Fuguang and Yang Zhao'en from the Institute of Cotton Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences said as per a state-controlled media outlet.
The research was published recently in Nature Genetics.
To find new genetic material for breeding, the team built an extensive genetic library compiled from 107 representative varieties of Upland cotton.
Through this, they identified large-scale structural variations in the plant's DNA, including significant rearrangements, exchanges and inversions of chromosomal segments that drive adaptation.
A specific large-scale chromosomal exchange was identified, indicating modern cotton originated from a surprisingly narrow lineage in Central America, the research team reported.
The study successfully connected these structural variations to crucial agricultural traits. It identified 69 genetic loci associated with fibre quality and yield, 62 of which were entirely new discoveries invisible to traditional genetic analysis.
The team also mapped specific variations controlling natural pest resistance and fibre colour, and uncovered a new genetic region, VWD11, that confers resistance to the verticillium wilt disease.
Beyond specific genes, the research reconstructs the crop's evolutionary journey.
The team proposes a three-stage model of domestication: originating in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, spreading to Guatemala and then disseminating globally.
It also demonstrated how historic natural hybridisation with another cotton species introduced valuable adaptive traits into the Upland cotton genome.
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