Recent insights into cotton functional genomics: progress and future perspectives

Functional genomics has transformed from futuristic concept (未来概念) to well-established scientific discipline (科学学科) during the last decade. Cotton functional genomics promise to enhance the understanding of fundamental plant biology to systematically (有系统地) exploit (利用) genetic resources for the improvement of cotton fibre quality and yield, as well as utilization of genetic information for germplasm improvement (种质改良). However, determining the cotton gene functions is a much more challenging task, which has not progressed at a rapid pace. This article presents a comprehensive overview of the recent tools and resources available with the major advances in cotton functional genomics to develop elite cotton genotypes. This effort ultimately helps to filter (过滤) a subset of genes that can be used to assemble a final list of candidate genes that could be employed in future novel cotton breeding programme. We argue that next stage of cotton functional genomics requires the draft genomes refinement (改良品), re-sequencing broad diversity panels with the development of high-throughput functional genomics tools and integrating multidisciplinary (多学科) approaches in upcoming cotton improvement programmes.

在过去的十年里，功能基因组学基因从一个概念性的东西变成了一个实实在在的科学学科。棉花功能基因组目的在于增强对基础生物学的理解，能够有系统地利用关于棉花纤维质量和产量改良的遗传资源，以及棉花种质改良的遗传信息。然而，棉花基因功能的鉴定是一个充满挑战的任务，并且这个过程缓慢而又艰巨。本文综述了现有的一些工具和资源在棉花功能基因组开发优良棉花基因型过程中的主要进展。最终的目的是要帮助过滤掉一些基因子集，最后组成一个候选基因集，能够用于在未来新的棉花育种项目。作者还讨论了棉花功能基因组的下一个阶段需要基因组草图的改良、具有广泛遗传多样性品系的重测序，以及高通量功能基因组学工具的开发和在即将到来的棉花改良项目中整合多学科交叉的研究方法。

通讯：宋国立 (http://www.cricaas.com.cn/pwaprocession/ddc04428c49eefbf/)

doi: 10.1111/pbi.12856