Cotton: Massive Genetic Mapping Project Opens New Doors For Plant Breeders
In the United States, cotton production centers around two varieties: 95 percent of what is grown is known as Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), while the remaining 5 percent is called American Pima (G. barbadense.) These are two of the five major lineages of cotton; G. tomentosum, G. mustelinum, and G. darwinii are the others.
All of these cotton lineages have genomes approximately 2.3 billion bases or Gigabases (Gb) in size, and are hybrids comprised of cotton A and cotton D genomes.