Advances and Future Challenges in the Use of Molecular Markers Applied to Cotton Cultivation

Abstract

In Argentina, cotton is a key regional crop in the north of the country. It extends over a wide agro-ecological zone between 25º and 31º south latitude and includes the provinces of Catamarca, Chaco, Córdoba, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa; Salta, Santa Fe and Santiago del Estero. The limitations and problems of the crop are in line with global problems. In this context, advances in modern biotechnology, especially molecular biology techniques, have become powerful tools within genetic improvement programs to address all these limitations, allowing for example the identification of cultivars and species, the establishment of evolutionary relationships between different groups of plants, the evaluation of genetic variability between populations, genetic mapping and assisted selection.The Biotechnology Laboratory of INTA Sáenz Peña works on different lines of research to obtain varieties with different characteristics, where the Germplasm Bank represents the genetic basis of the improvement program. To do this, genetic materials are conserved and molecularly evaluated to determine the available variability, as well as the productive and/or adaptive characteristics of agronomic interest.