Preface

Cotton cultivars (*Gossypium* spp.) are the single most important natural fiber crop in the world. The oil and proteins produced from cottonseed contribute to the world's food security as human diet and animal feed products with important economic value. Cotton was first cultivated as a fabric in prehistoric times. Very old pieces of cotton cloth have been found in Peru (dating back to 6000 BCE) as well as Mohenjo-Daro and other sites of the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilization (dating back to 5500 BCE).

There are five allotetraploid species and forty-five diploid species, representing the primary, secondary, and tertiary genetic sources (gene pool) used for the genetics and breeding of cotton cultivars. Cotton research has advanced globally over the past half-century. Researchers have addressed the key challenges and limitations of cotton farming worldwide by initiating largely coordinated multi-institutional research projects on cotton. These efforts have greatly accelerated cotton research worldwide and helped to improve cotton production and farming.

A century of cotton research activity analysis shows that investigations on this crop have rapidly increased. Based on our analysis of PubMed indexed scientific publications, there were six major bumps around 1966, 1973–1975, 2001, 2007, 2013, and 2016 (see introductory chapter for details) with increased publication activities. Although the number of cotton science publications has plateaued in the last five years, their focus has narrowed to biotic/abiotic and fiber or plant developmental studies, utilizing more genomic tools than ever. Therefore, there is a need for a timely review of the current state of advancements in cotton research.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in cotton science. It is a useful resource for university students, life science researchers, and other interested readers.

I greatly acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Kater Hake at Cotton Incorporated Inc., Dr. Venkatesh N. Kulkarni at Nath Bio-Gene Ltd., and Prof. Govind Sharma at Alabama A&M University for their help in reviewing some of the book chapters and for their valuable opinions in improving the book's content. I also thank all the authors for their efforts and invaluable contributions to this volume. Finally, I extend my thanks to the staff at IntechOpen, especially the Author Service Manager Ms. Jasna Bozic.

> **Ibrokhim Y. Abdurakhmonov** Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
