Production of cotton fibers with improved fiber characteristics by treatment with brassinosteroids

摘要

Methods are disclosed to achieve an improvement in the characteristics and yield of cotton fibers. In one method, a cotton plant of the genus Gossypium in seed form or in growth stage is treated with a brassinosteroid. In another method, an ovule culture is prepared from a cotton plant of the genus Gossypium in a brassinosteroid-containing liquid medium. Cotton fibers with improved fiber characteristics are obtained from the cotton bolls of the treated plant or from the cultured ovules. Also disclosed are a method for inducing specific genes expression in a cotton plant to produce cotton fibers with improved fiber characteristics by treatment with a brassinosteroid, and a cotton plant produced by this method; as well as a novel gene capable of changing the degree of its expression found in the ovules of a cotton plant treated with a brassinosteroid, a gene capable of hybridizing with this novel gene, a recombinant plasmid containing this novel gene, a transformant containing this recombinant plasmid, and the like.