Z. Jeffrey Chen

May 30, 2024 | nature.com | Avinash Sreedasyam |John Lovell |Sujan Mamidi |Jerry Jenkins |Christopher Plott |Shengqiang Shu | +16 more

AbstractCotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the key renewable fibre crop worldwide, yet its yield and fibre quality show high variability due to genotype-specific traits and complex interactions among cultivars, management practices and environmental factors. Modern breeding practices may limit future yield gains due to a narrow founding gene pool. Precision breeding and biotechnological approaches offer potential solutions, contingent on accurate cultivar-specific data.

May 27, 2024 | cell.com | Shuai Cao |Z. Jeffrey Chen

Highlights An epigenetic phenomenon has three features: not a DNA mutation, heritable, and reversible. Epigenetic memory is related to DNA methylation, chromatin modification, and/or RNA-mediated mechanisms. Both external (environmental) and internal (genomic) stresses and signals can induce heritable epigenetic variation. Most internally induced epigenetic variations are relatively stable and can be explored to improve crop yield and resilience.