Climate modelling predicts a warmer climate for cotton growing regions in the future. This will impose stresses on cotton plants that may impact on cotton fiber cuticle wax levels, and in turn may make cotton textile products more challenging to scour and dye. While previous research has measured the effect of abiotic stress on cuticle wax in cotton leaves and bracts, no research is known to have been undertaken specifically measuring the impact of abiotic stress on cotton fiber wax content. Five Upland (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cotton genotypes with known different tolerances to abiotic stress, were subjected over two growing seasons, to heat stress and or water deficit during the period when fiber cuticle wax deposition occurred. Total ethanol soluble wax content was determined in mature fiber using a standard protocol. Across all genotypes and treatments, fiber wax content varied between 0.2 and 1.6 %. For Sicot 71, a standard Australian commercial genotype, and for Siokra L23 and CIM-448 two genotypes known to be tolerant to abiotic stress, fiber wax content was either unaffected or decreased following the application of abiotic stress. For CS 50, a genotype with a poor tolerance to water deficit stress, fiber wax content increased following abiotic stress. For Sicala V-2, a genotype with less tolerance to abiotic stress, fiber wax content decreased following either heat stress or water deficit treatments alone, while wax content markedly increased following the combined application of both stress treatments. The genotypic variations observed in fiber wax content and the differences in the direction of the response to stresses suggest that conventional breeding could be used to generate new genotypes with acceptable fiber wax levels adapted to future extreme climates.

气候模型预测，未来棉花种植地区的气候会变暖。这将对棉株施加压力，这可能会影响棉纤维表皮蜡的含量，进而使棉纺织产品的洗涤和染色更具挑战性。尽管先前的研究已经测量了非生物胁迫对棉叶和片中表皮蜡的影响，但尚未进行专门研究非生物胁迫对棉纤维蜡含量的影响的研究。五高地（陆地棉）L.）具有非生物胁迫耐受性的已知基因型在两个生长季节中经历了纤维角质层蜡沉积期间的热胁迫和/或水分亏缺。使用标准方案确定成熟纤维中的总乙醇可溶性蜡含量。在所有基因型和治疗方法中，纤维蜡含量在0.2％至1.6％之间变化。对于标准的澳大利亚商业基因型Sicot 71，以及对于Siokra L23和CIM-448这两个已知可以耐受非生物胁迫的基因型，在应用非生物胁迫后，纤维蜡含量要么不受影响，要么降低。对于CS 50（一种对水分亏缺胁迫的耐受性差的基因型），非生物胁迫后纤维蜡含量增加。对于Sicala V-2，这种基因型对非生物胁迫的耐受性较低，单独使用热应力或缺水处理后，纤维蜡含量会降低，而同时使用两种应力处理后，纤维蜡含量会显着增加。在纤维蜡含量中观察到的基因型变化和对胁迫响应方向的差异表明，常规育种可用于产生具有可接受的纤维蜡水平的新基因型，其适应未来的极端气候。