Understanding water movement in cotton fibre for high fibre quality

Supervisors: Dr Yong-Ling Ruan (02 6246 4909)
Location: Canberra
Financial support: To be determined

Cotton fibres are single-celled hairs developed from the seed epidermis. Long fibre (> 2.9 cm) is a key requirement of high quality cotton fibre. A major fibre quality problem faced by the growers is the variability in fibre length due to insufficient elongation of the fibres.

Fibre elongation is largely driven by the turgor pressure generated through influx of water. However, water influx is slowed and some water is even lost from the fibre cells late in elongation, which is likely a major factor in reducing and terminating fibre elongation.

Little is known about how water moves into and out of fibres at both physiological and molecular levels. The objectives of this study is (1) to study the mechanisms of water influx into and efflux out of fibre cells and (2) to identify key genes regulating these processes for genetic engineering to enhance water movement into cotton fibres for long fibres.