Wenzhong Huang

Biomass Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resouces, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Cotton Genomics and Genetics, 2025, Vol. 16, No. 2   
Received: 17 Dec., 2024    Accepted: 20 Jan., 2025    Published: 29 Jan., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cotton is an important crop for global agriculture and textile industry and is often subjected to various abiotic stresses that limit its productivity. This study explores gene editing strategies to enhance cotton's tolerance to drought, salt, and extreme temperature. We provide an overview of the major abiotic stresses affecting cotton, including their physiological effects, and highlight cutting-edge gene editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas systems, TALENs, ZFNs, base editing, and prime editing. We also focus on key molecular targets such as stress-responsive transcription factors, osmotic regulator biosynthesis genes, and signal transduction elements. A detailed case study demonstrates the successful application of CRISPR/Cas9 in editing GhDREB2 and other stress-related genes to improve drought tolerance, supported by phenotypic and transcriptomic validation. We also discuss major challenges such as off-target effects, regulatory issues, and limitations of cotton transformation efficiency. Looking ahead, we emphasize the integration of multi-omics data, AI-assisted design tools, and non-transgenic approaches to improve precision and public acceptance. This study highlights the transformative potential of gene editing in breeding abiotic stress-resistant cotton varieties and envisions a sustainable future for cotton agriculture through precision biotechnology.

Cotton; Abiotic stress; Gene editing; CRISPR/Cas9; Stress tolerance improvement