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Abstract
The reemergence of cotton bacterial blight (CBB) caused by Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum (Xcm) after a multi-decade absence raises questions regarding the factors underlying its resurgence and possible reservoirs of the pathogen. This study investigated seed-borne transmission of Xcm under field conditions and explored genetic modifications strategies to enhance cotton resistance. Leave sample testing and genotyping of recovered isolates from field trials conducted over two growing seasons revealed that CBB-resistant cultivars can serve as inoculum sources for the disease. In our first genetic modification strategy, we attempt to introduce the AtEFR pattern recognition receptor (PRR) construct into cotton but genotyped 136 EFR candidate plants lack the transgene. In our second strategy to disrupt susceptibility gene expression by Xcm Transcription-activator-like (TAL) effectors, we introduced and confirmed mutations in GhTFIIAγ that can prevent the interaction between Xcm effector and host protein however, infertility of 2 lines with high edit efficiency hindered progress.