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Gene Silencing to Increase Senescence in Cotton

Cotton is a relatively stress‐tolerant crop that is the major source of fiber used by humans. The timing of cotton senescence has an impact on yield in two ways. First, premature senescence is occurring in the US and elsewhere and limits cotton boll development. Second, farmers currently try to maximize their harvest by applying defoliants to plants in the field to suppress development near harvest time. We have identified the P80 gene as a regulator of senescence and lifespan in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Using BLAST search tools and cotton expressed sequence tag (EST) databases, we were able to identify three P80‐like genes on three different chromosomes in Gossypium hirsutum, which is itself a cross of G. arboreum and G. raimondii. In querying cotton cDNA produced from apical meristems, we found five different P80‐like genes in G. hirsutum. By using real‐time PCR, we characterize the expression of these P80‐like genes during cotton growth and development. Virus‐Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) constructs were developed to silence the P80‐like genes in G. hirsutum. VIGS has been implemented utilizing a Cotton leaf crumple virus, allowing for targeted knock‐down through the plant's post‐transcriptional gene silencing machinery. Our results indicate that VIGS of the P80‐like genes promotes altered leaf development in cotton.