This USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) project grant award of $547,986 to Texas Tech University System aims to develop drought- and heat-tolerant cotton varieties. The research seeks to overexpress genes such as OSSIZ1 and RCA that confer increased abiotic stress tolerance in cotton, with the goal of improving cotton yield under heat and low irrigation conditions. The university plans to demonstrate that OSSIZ1/RCA co-overexpressing cotton outperforms previous OSSIZ1/AVP1 and RCA/AVP1 cotton lines under combined drought and heat stresses. The 4-year project starting on Sep 1, 2024 is expected to advance climate-smart cotton production practices and increase U.S. cotton exports.
Generated 1/28/25, 9:50 AM