Biotechnological interventions for improving cottonseed oil attributes

Cotton, though mainly cultivated for its natural fibre (lint), is one of the chief edible oilseed crops globally. Cottonseed, the major by-product of cotton plant, is an excellent source of oil and protein. The fatty acid profile of cottonseed oil is dominated by unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid and oleic acid). Among the saturated fatty acids, palmitic acid is the predominant one. Breeding efforts in cotton have primarily focused on yield, fibre quality enhancement and tolerance to stresses. Genetic improvement of cottonseed oil attributes has never received the desired attention. Though hundreds of QTLs for yield and component traits, fibre quality and stress tolerance have been mapped, not many investigations on QTL mapping of cottonseed oil attributes have been taken up. The development of ultra-low gossypol cottonseed through the use of RNAi technology is a landmark achievement and holds great potential to enhance nutritional security. Many recent investigations have provided proof of concept of genome editing through CRISPR/Cas9 system in complex polyploid cotton. Using this technology, development of non-transgenic upland cotton mutants possessing high oleic acid has been reported very recently, which is a step towards the production of cottonseed oil with desirable functionality.