Growth and development of the cotton fiber

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1975

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The developmet of cotton lint fibers is characterized by two types of growth-elongation and cell wall thickening. These growth patters were analyzed, throughout the boll development period, using measurement of halo length, dry lint fiber weight per seed, dry lint fiber weight per unit of lint length, wall thickness, and ¹⁴C incorporation into cell wall materials. Curvilinear regression analysis of the resulting data and patterns for rates of increase of these parameters in 'Stoneville 213' (Gossypium hirsutum L.) indicate that elongation and wall thickening phases of growth are not separated in time as usually believed. By the time elongation ceased at 27 days after anthesis, over 40% of the final values for both lint weight parameters had been deposited, and wall thickening was occurring at its maximum rate and had been occurring for 10 days. This proportion of lint weight is too high to be accounted for by the relatively thin primary wall, which has generally been thought to be the only wall material present during elongation. Wall thicknesses measured from electron micrographs of developing Stoneville 213 lint fibers are highly correlated (P<0.01) with both lint weight parameters. The time-course of wall thickening parallels that of lint weight gain. The incorporation of photosynthate labeled with a pulse of ¹⁴CO₂ into lint fiber cell wall material parallels lint weight accumulation. The pattern of incorporation of label from ¹⁴C-labeled D-glucuronic acid into the lint of excised locules parallels elongation, indicating metabolism of primary wall constituents throughout the measured elongation period. These comparison indicate the validity of using the lint weight parameters as a measure of wall thickening and the validity of the halo length measurements..

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Plant Physiology

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