Table I. Fiber quality analyses of field- and greenhouse-grown T3 plants.

Fibers collected from T3 plants from the field and greenhouse were analyzed at the Center for Cotton Fiber Quality Inspection and Testing of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. Upper half mean length refers to the mean length of the top half of the fibers; mean length is the average length of fibers. Ri, RNAi plants; CK, the wild-type plant; OX, overexpression plants. The data presented are from three independent experiments. Asterisks indicate mean significance at P < 0.05 (Student’s t test).

Fiber Samples	Upper Half Mean Length	Mean Length	Uniformity Index	Micronaire	Strength
	mm		%		g tex−1
T3 fiber harvested from the field
Ri2	27.84 ± 0.52*	23.55 ± 0.51*	84.60 ± 0.64*	4.28 ± 0.28*	28.58 ± 0.90
Ri3	26.62 ± 0.31*	22.16 ± 0.29*	83.23 ± 0.23*	4.17 ± 0.38*	26.20 ± 0.35*
CK	29.15 ± 0.73	25.04 ± 0.68	85.90 ± 0.35	5.17 ± 0.06	29.17 ± 0.35
OX1	28.12 ± 0.42	24.15 ± 0.43	85.87 ± 0.31	5.07 ± 0.06	27.60 ± 0.52
OX2	28.82 ± 0.76	24.74 ± 1.04	85.87 ± 1.42	5.17 ± 0.06	28.63 ± 0.40
T3 fiber harvested from the greenhouse
Ri2	27.58 ± 0.2*	22.97 ± 0.16*	83.27 ± 0.15*	3.97 ± 0.29*	28.23 ± 0.55
Ri3	27.78 ± 0.36*	22.94 ± 0.26*	82.60 ± 0.26*	4.50 ± 0.10*	27.40 ± 0.66
CK	29.89 ± 0.56	25.59 ± 0.35	85.63 ± 0.40	5.00 ± 0.20	28.77 ± 0.67
OX1	28.69 ± 0.39	24.79 ± 0.34	86.43 ± 0.15	5.00 ± 0.00	27.70 ± 0.78