Cotton domestication: dramatic changes in a single cell

Abstract Investigations on the nature of genetic changes underpinning plant domestication have begun to shed light on the evolutionary history of crops and can guide improvements to modern cultivars. A recent study focused on cotton fiber cells tracks the dramatic genome-wide changes in gene expression during development that have accompanied selection for increased fiber yield and quality. See Research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/139