Kaliyaperumal Ashokkumar1* and Rajasekaran Ravikesavan2
Cotton (Gossypium sp.) is the leading fibre crop in the world, and secondarily important source of vegetable edible oil and protein meals. Cotton seed meal is used principally as a protein concentrate feed for livestock. Moreover to flavor stability, cotton seed oil also has superior nutritive qualities; it has a 3:1 ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids, which meets the recommendation of many health professionals. Cotton seed oil is rich in essential fatty acids such as palmitic and stearic (saturated), oleic and linoleic (unsaturated) acids. Several researchers reported cotton seed oil and protein concentration in cotton is controlled by multiple genes and is strongly influenced by the environment. Numerous studies indicated significant negative correlation between oil and protein content and also seed oil and protein content are predominantly controlled by non-additive gene action. In biotechnological features of cottonseed oil and protein; genetic mapping provides an essential tool to understand the genetic architecture of quantitative traits at the molecular level. Recently DNA markers linked to QTL controlling kernel oil percentage, kernel protein percentage and amino acids was identified in cotton. These detected QTL for seed quality traits in cotton are expected to be useful for future breeding programmes targeting development of cotton with improved oil and protein content. Marker assisted introgression and genetic transformation techniques will be used for transfer of specific genes/alleles would also undoubtedly increase the efficiency of cotton seed oil and protein content focused breeding programs in the future.
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