In early season growth disorder, or 'bacterial stunt', bacteria infect the roots of cotton and inhibit plant growth and VAM development.

The commonly used Micronaire value for cotton is related to both fibre fineness and maturity. There is a need for a new measurement technique to separate these.

The research had three parts: * Quantify the V AM fungi at depth in the soil * Determine the rate of colonisation of roots of cotton by V AM fungi.

A variety of proteins were purified from cotton seeds and were analysed by amino acid sequence determination (automated Edman degradation) and by state-of-the-art electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESMS).

The CSIRO cotton breeding program based at Narrabri has been very successful in developing varieties adapted to all cotton production regions in Australia.