Reduced seedling growth in GhKOR1-down-regulated transgenic cotton. (A) The transgenic seedlings were significantly smaller and weaker than WT plants by 38 days after germination (DAG). (B) The transgenic plants were still smaller than the WT, but the difference appeared less obvious by 53 DAG than in the early stage as shown in (A). (C) By 70 DAG, just prior to flowering, the transgenic plants became phenotypically similar to the wild-type plants. (D) On the fifth day after the seeds were sown, among 15 seeds sown in each case, eight WT seedlings had emerged from the soil, while only two, five, and one seedling emerged in RNAi line1, RNAi line5, and Co-S line1, respectively. (E) After maturation, the 100 seed weight of transgenic lines was significantly reduced as compared with the WT. ** indicate a significant difference from the WT by t-test with a P-value of 0.01.