GENE RESEARCHERS IRONING OUT WRINKLES IN COTTON.

Byline: Paul Recer Associated Press 

Inserting a ``polyester gene'' into the cotton plant may allow farmers to grow a fiber that is wrinkle-free and as warm as wool, researchers report.

A laboratory experiment has shown that a bacterium gene that makes a polyesterlike substance can be inserted into the cotton plant and cause it to grow a fiber that has the texture of cotton, but with the insulation warmth of a winter weight fabric.

``This proves the concept that we'll be able to come up with new and novel fibers for the textile industry'' by genetically engineering the cotton plant, said Maliyakal E. John, a biochemist with Agracetus, a Middleton, Wis., firm. He is the first author of a study to be published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

``If we can put enough polyester into the cotton, we could come up with a fiber that could be used to make sweaters and other types of winter wear that are not now possible with cotton,'' John said.

Other genes, he said, could be used to make the cotton resistant to wrinkles and shrinkage. Still others, he said, could cause the cotton fiber to lock in dyes, allowing production of more brightly colored, fade-resistant fabrics.

The research, said John, proves that cotton plants can be genetically altered through a technique called particle bombardment. The process allows researchers to transfer specific genes from other species into agricultural plants.

John said that the Agracetus researchers, working under a grant from the Department of Commerce, first extracted from a common laboratory bacteria a gene that makes a polyesterlike substance. The bacteria DNA was then put onto the surface of extremely small gold beads. These were fired into the stem parts of cotton seedlings.

The resulting plants produced seeds that contained the bacteria DNA. The fiber from the plants contained polyester.

Tests of the fibers showed that they had a heat retention capacity about 8.6 percent higher than normal cotton fiber.

John said that his lab is working to put even more polyester into the cotton plant to increase its heat retention.

``The amount of the material is not sufficiently high now,'' he said. ``We hope to increase the amount of the polymer by tenfold or more.''

The important element of the research, said John, is proof that characteristics of the cotton fiber can be altered by genetic engineering in the laboratory.