Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is an important agricultural crop that provides renewable natural fiber resources for the global textile industry. Technological developments in the textile industry and improvements in human living standards have increased the requirement for supplies and better quality cotton. Upland cotton 0-153 is an elite cultivar harboring strong fiber strength genes. To conduct quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping for fiber quality in 0-153, we developed a population of 196 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from a cross between 0-153 and sGK9708. The fiber quality traits in 11 environments were measured and a genetic linkage map of chromosome 25 comprising 210 loci was constructed using this RIL population, mainly using simple sequence repeat markers and single nucleotide polymorphism markers. QTLs were identified across diverse environments using the composite interval mapping method. A total of 37 QTLs for fiber quality traits were identified on chromosome 25, of which 17 were stably expressed in at least in two environments. A stable fiber strength QTL, qFS-chr25-4, which was detected in seven environments and was located in the marker interval between CRI-SNP120491 and BNL2572, could explain 6.53%-11.83% of the observed phenotypic variations. Meta-analysis also confirmed the above QTLs with previous reports. Application of these QTLs could contribute to improving fiber quality and provide information for marker-assisted selection.

A consensus genetic map of tetraploid cotton was constructed using six high-density maps and after the integration of a sequence-based marker redundancy check. Public cotton SSR libraries (17,343 markers) were curated for sequence redundancy using 90% as a similarity cutoff. As a result, 20% of the markers (3,410) could be considered as redundant with some other markers. The marker redundancy information had been a crucial part of the map integration process, in which the six most informative interspecific Gossypium hirsutum×G. barbadense genetic maps were used for assembling a high density consensus (HDC) map for tetraploid cotton. With redundant markers being removed, the HDC map could be constructed thanks to the sufficient number of collinear non-redundant markers in common between the component maps. The HDC map consists of 8,254 loci, originating from 6,669 markers, and spans 4,070 cM, with an average of 2 loci per cM. The HDC map presents a high rate of locus duplications, as 1,292 markers among the 6,669 were mapped in more than one locus. Two thirds of the duplications are bridging homoeologous A(T) and D(T) chromosomes constitutive of allopolyploid cotton genome, with an average of 64 duplications per A(T)/D(T) chromosome pair. Sequences of 4,744 mapped markers were used for a mutual blast alignment (BBMH) with the 13 major scaffolds of the recently released Gossypium raimondii genome indicating high level of homology between the diploid D genome and the tetraploid cotton genetic map, with only a few minor possible structural rearrangements. Overall, the HDC map will serve as a valuable resource for trait QTL comparative mapping, map-based cloning of important genes, and better understanding of the genome structure and evolution of tetraploid cotton.

We report the development of a new interspecific cotton recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of 140 lines deriving from an interspecific cross between Gossypium hirsutum (Gh) and G. barbadense (Gb), using the same two parents that have served for the construction of a BC(1) map and for the marker-assisted backcross selection program underway at CIRAD. Two marker systems, microsatellites and AFLPs, were used. An important feature of the RIL population was its marked segregation distortion with a genome-wide bias to Gh alleles (parental genome ratio is 71/29). The RIL map displays an excellent colinearity with the BC(1) map, although it is severely contracted in terms of map size. Existence of 255 loci in common (between 6 and 14 per chromosome) allowed the integration of the two data sets. A consensus BC(1)-RIL map based upon 215 individuals (75 BC1 + 140 RIL) was built. It consisted of 1,745 loci, spanned 3,637 cM, intermediate between the sizes of the two component maps, and constituted a solid framework to cross align cotton maps using common markers. The new RIL population will be further exploited for fiber property QTL mapping and eQTL mapping.