The Spatiotemporal Genetic Architecture of Seed Vigor in Upland Cotton

作者：Luyao Wang, Jie Dai, Ting Zhao, Shengjun Zhao, Hongyu Wu, Jiaying Pan, Yupeng Hao, Ke Nie, Li Yu, Yumeng Zhu, Xu Zhao, Kai Huang, M Zhang, Yongyan Zhao, Yaping Jiang, Siyuan Wang, Yiling Pan, Yuehua Chen, Yilai Lin, Wanghong Shi, Yayuan Deng, Jin Han, Jie Li, Xuan Long, Junbin Wang, Zhiyuan Zhang, Zegang Han, Zhanfeng Si, Lei Ju, Jun Li, T Zhang, Jin Zhou, Xueying Guan · 发表于：Advanced Science · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1002/advs.76067 · 研究领域：Research in Cotton Cultivation、Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis、Plant Molecular Biology Research

Seed vigor underpins uniform crop establishment, but its dynamic genetics are understudied. Combining high-resolution temporal phenotyping and genomics in upland cotton, we used the SeedRanger platform to record 17 image-based traits every 30 min over 120 h, revealing stage-specific heritability and identifying 541 seed-vigor loci. These loci show extensive pleiotropy and temporal coordination, forming a genetic network that preserves developmental continuity; 8.9% overlap regions under domestication selection, indicating concurrent optimization with fiber yield. Functional validation of FLA2, a candidate gene underlying a dynamic QTL, implicates auxin-mediated control of radicle elongation and cotyledon development. This temporal framework exposes dynamic genetic architecture and breeding targets for high-vigor crops.