By Jacob P. Koshy
Scientists in India are poised to kick off a research project to
identify and manipulate genes in cotton, especially in Gossypium
hirsutum, India?s most popular variety of cotton.
Among other things, the project, which will compete with similar work
being undertaken in other countries, seeks to identify genes that
determine the quality of the fibre. Scientists then hope to use the
discovery to develop superior quality cotton.

?This is a first-of-its-kind project,? said V. Siva Reddy, the project
leader, ?and is expected to provide a fundamental understanding of the
various genes that trigger the development of a cotton boll.? A boll is
the seed capsule of the cotton plant, from which the fibre is extracted.

The five-year project, funded under the World Bank-sponsored National
Agricultural Innovation Project (Naip), involves four organizations: the
Delhi unit of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology, a United Nations-promoted research organization; the
department of genetics, University of Delhi; the University of
Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka; and J.K. Agrigenetics Ltd.

Reddy emphazised that novel genes and promoters identified through the
project will be protected in the form of patents by Naip.

Although the cotton genome has not been mapped yet, Reddy says that it
would be similar to other plant genomes but differ signficantly with
respect to boll and fibre development.

Since a host of environmental factors- such as temperature and humidity-
can make a single gene exhibit varied behaviour, this project aims to
create a huge database of how genes that influence boll development
respond to a range of environmental factors, Reddy added.

Cotton is an important cash crop in India and is presently cultivated in
approximately 916 million hectares. Of this, according to the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research, Bt cotton, the only
genetically-modified crop that is legally cultivated in the country, is
cultivated in about 2.4 million acres. Of the Bt cotton, 90% belongs to
Gossypium Hirsutum variety, which is native to the US, and has been
cultivated in India for the last two decades.

International work of similar nature include the Centre for Cotton
Research and Development project in Australia that has been trying to
pinpoint genes that determine why certain varieties of cotton are longer
and stronger.

But these studies have been concentrated on local Australian varieties,
said Katherine Malone, a scientist involved with the project, in an
email.

V.N. Deshpande, a geneticist based out of the Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi, said, ?It?s a good idea to have a repository, but
such projects are already happening internationally. So it?s a kind of
race, where the first to win will patent their findings. So if we are
beaten to that, much of the project could be a waste.?

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