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Article: Why scientists cotton to Egyptian cotton. (research tries to mix Egyptian cotton's resistance to verticillium wilt with American cotton's yields)
- Article from:
- Agricultural Research
- Article date:
- January 1, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Why Scientists Cotton to Egyptian Cotton
A trio of U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists has solved a natural mystery from the land of the pharaohs: What makes Egyptian cotton so tough?
Egyptian cotton, Gossypium barbadense, boasts a resistance to Verticillium wilt disease that U.S. cotton growers would love to transplant into their favorite cotton, Gossypium hirsutum. Verticillium wilt is caused by the fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae.
The secret of resistance, says plant pathologist Marshall E. Mace, is the speed with which G. barbadense can plug its own vessels and immobilize the pathogen before it spreads throughout the plant. Mace, ...