Major research focus includes developing new and differentiated germplasm with enabling technology and screening exotic germplasm collections for native traits to be used in breeding cotton. Breeding targets include improved fiber quality, drought tolerance, nematode tolerance, disease tolerance to Verticillium dahliae, Theilaviopsis basicola, and Xanthamonas (bacterial blight) and yield component improvement in high fiber quality lines. Incorporating native traits discovered in the screening program into cultivars through classical breeding for organic production and preserving genetic resources in a recombinant DNA environment is a primary goal of the breeding program.
