棉纤维是纺织工业重要的天然原料，提高棉纤维品质一直是棉花育种的主要目标。分离棉纤维发育相关基因并解析其形成的分子机制，可为利用基因工程手段提高棉纤维的品质提供依据。CLASP蛋白是一种能够特异地与微管结合，参与调节微管结构与功能的微管结合蛋白(MAPs)，在植物细胞形成、细胞伸长等方面起着关键作用。项目组在前期研究中发现，棉纤维优势表达的GhCLASP2基因过量表达能显著增加拟南芥表皮密度和毛分支数，暗示GhCLASP可能在棉纤维发育和品质形成中有重要作用。本研究拟以棉纤维细胞优势表达CLASP基因为研究对象，通过对纤维优势表达GhCLASP2 和GhCLASP3基因过量、抑制表达和基因编辑后对转基因棉纤维品质影响的分析，以及对CLASP蛋白的亚细胞定位和相互作用蛋白的分析，揭示CLASP在棉纤维发育过程中的功能与作用机制，并探讨通过对GhCLASP基因遗传操作来提高棉纤维品质的可能性。

Cotton fiber is an important natural materials for the textile industry. The genetic improvement of fiber quality is the primary objective of cotton breeding. Identification and characterization of cotton genes involved in fiber development and investigating the molecular mechanism of fiber formation will provide a foundation to improve cotton fiber quality by genetic engineering techniques. CLASP protein is a microtubule-associated protein that can be specifically binding to the microtubules and participate in the regulation of the structure and function of the microtubules. CLASPs play a role in the cell wall formation and cell elongation in plant. It has been showed that the overexpression of GhCLASP2, predominantly expressed in cotton fibers, could significantly increase the epidermal density and number of trichome branches in Arabidopsis thaliana. It was suggested that CLASP plays an important role in the development of cotton fiber. In this study, the function of CLASP genes that are preferentially expressed in fiber would be explored. The effects of overexpression, RNA interference and gene-editing of GhCLASP2 and GhCLASP3, predominantly expressed in the fibers, on fiber quality would be clarified. The subcellular localization and interaction protein of CLASP will be also analyzed. This study will help us to reveal the function and molecular mechanism of CLASP involved in cotton fiber development, and it will provide the possible approach for improving cotton fiber quality using of GhCLASP gene by genetic operations.