Fig. 5

Effects of sitosterol or campesterol on fiber growth in ovule culture system in vitro. a and b Mocks for the ovules from control plants (a) and transgenic cotton lines (b). BT medium adjusted with the amount of ethanol equivalent to that used to dissolve sitosterol or campesterol was used as the mock. c and d Sitosterol treatment of fibers from control plants (c) and OS-6 line(d). e and f Campesterol treatment of fibers from control plants(e) and OS-6 line (f). All ovules derived from control and transgenic plants were cultured on liquid BT medium for 10 days. g Fiber length of mock and sitosterol-treated ovules of the control after 10-day culture in BT medium. h Fiber length of mock and campesterol-treated ovules of the control after 10-day culture in BT medium. i Fiber lengths of mock and campesterol-treated ovules of the OS-6 transgenic plant after 10-day culture in BT medium. Error bars represent SD for at least 10 seeds. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences between the mock and treatment, as determined by Student’s t-test (*, P < 0.05)