Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is an RNA-mediated reverse genetics technique that has become an effective tool to investigate gene function in plants. Cotton is one of the most important economic crops globally. In the past decade, VIGS has been successfully applied in cotton functional genomic studies, including those examining abiotic and biotic stress responses and vegetative and reproductive development. This article summarizes the traditional vectors used in the cotton VIGS system, the visible markers used for endogenous gene silencing, the applications of VIGS in cotton functional genomics, and the limitations of VIGS and how they can be addressed in cotton.
Keywords: cotton; functional genomics; virus-induced gene silencing.