Understanding the role of phytohormones in cotton fiber development through omic approaches: recent advances and future directions

Cotton is among the most important fiber crops for the textile-based industry, thanks to its cellulose-rich mature fibers. The fiber initiation and elongation are one of the best models for deciphering mechanisms of single-cell differentiation and growth, that also target of fiber development programs. During the last couple of decades, high yielding omics approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics), have helped in the identification of several genes and gene products involved in fiber development along with functional relationship to phytohormones. For example, MYB transcription factor family and Sus gene family have been evidenced by controlling cotton fiber initiation. Most importantly, the biosynthesis, responses, and transporting of phytohormones is documented to participate in the initiation of cotton fibers. Herein, in this review, the reliable genetic evidence by manipulating the above genes in cotton have been summarized to describe the relationships among key phytohormones, transcription factors, proteins, and downstream fiber growth-related genes such as Sus. The effect of other important factors such as ROS, fatty acid metabolism, and actin (globular multi-functional proteins) over fiber development has also been discussed. The challenges and deficiencies in the research of cotton fiber development have been mentioned along with a future perspective to discover new crucial genes using multiple omics analysis.