Cotton is one of the most important fiber and oil crops. Abiotic stress (salt stress, drought stress, heat stress and chilling stress) and biotic stress (Verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, pests) severely threaten cotton productivity. Most commercial cotton cultivars show poor resistance to Verticillium wilt, resulting in decreased fiber quality and annual crop yield, with losses reaching 30%-80% in severe disease outbreaks. Additionally, global climate change, drought, heat, and chilling stress dramatically suppress cotton growth and productivity. To develop germplasm that are abiotic and biotic stress resistant remains enigmatic. For sustained cotton breeding, it is essential to develop elite cotton varieties with enhanced tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, without reduction in quality.

The location of elite alleles and loci with increased tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress will accelerate cotton breeding. It is also possible to study such elite genes originating from wild cotton, sea island cotton, other stress-tolerant plants, or microorganisms to enhance cotton stress tolerance. The function of these candidate genes or loci can be verified by genetic and biochemical processes. Genetic and biochemical analyses confirm the function of these candidate genes or loci, which are aggregated to produce elite cotton germplasm material.

The goal of this Research Topic is to summarize the advances in elite gene screening and the production of germplasm material for cotton tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress.

Specific themes include, but not limited to:
• Summary of the progress about cotton abiotic and biotic stress study, present the main challenges faced by cotton stress tolerant breeding, as well as the solutions, and future breeding strategies (reviews on invitation)
• Identification and functional characterization of elite alleles controlling abiotic stress including drought, salt stress, and elite germplasm materials creation with improved stress tolerance but without production penalty;
• Identification and functional characterization of effector from Verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt and interacted proteins in plants, creation disease-resistant materials using transgenic technology and gene editing;
• Identification and functional characterization of elite alleles and loci related to abiotic and biotic stress through population, omics, and other analysis,

We specifically welcome field-based studies studying the effects of cotton stress in the field as supposed to the lab.

Studies falling into the categories below will not be considered for review, unless they are expanded and provide insight into the biological system or process being studied:

i) Descriptive collection of transcripts, proteins or metabolites, including comparative sets as a result of different conditions or treatments;
ii) Descriptive studies that define gene families using basic phylogenetics and the assignment of cursory functional attributions (e.g. expression profiles, hormone or metabolites levels, promoter analysis, informatic parameters);
ii) Descriptive studies using -omics approaches

The Topic Editors would like to acknowledge Dr. Xiaoyang Ge from State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research of CAAS for his contribution in the organization of this Research Topic.

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