Meristem

Genome editing

Biology

Botany

Gene

Genetically modified crops

Transformation (genetics)

Gossypium

Genetics

Gossypium barbadense

Agrobacterium

Genome

Transgene

Journal of Integrative Plant Biology

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is one of the most important fiber crops worldwide. In the last two decades, transgenesis and genome editing have played important roles in cotton improvement. However, genotype dependence is one of the key bottlenecks in generating transgenic and gene-edited cotton plants through either particle bombardment or Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Here, we developed a shoot apical meristem (SAM) cell-mediated transformation system (SAMT) that allowed the transformation of recalcitrant cotton genotypes including widely grown upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), Sea island cotton (Gossypium barbadense), and Asiatic cotton (Gossypium arboreum). Through SAMT, we successfully introduced two foreign genes, GFP and RUBY, into SAM cells of some recalcitrant cotton genotypes. Within 2-3 months, transgenic adventitious shoots generated from the axillary meristem zone could be recovered and grown into whole cotton plants. The GFP fluorescent signal and betalain accumulation could be observed in ...

Efficient genotype‐independent cotton genetic transformation and genome editing