“…These two diploid species represent less than 2% of worldwide cotton production and are mainly cultivated in Asia under low input production systems (Dewan et al., 2017; Iqbal et al., 2015; Romeu‐Dalmau et al., 2015; Zhang et al, 2008). The diploid cotton species are characterized by lower fibre yield potential and reduced lint fibre quality (Dewan et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2015; Romeu‐Dalmau et al., 2015; Zhu et al., 2019); nonetheless, they are an important resource of abiotic stress tolerance, pest resistance and genetic diversity for fibre traits (Erpelding & Stetina, 2019; Ma et al., 2008; Maqbool et al., 2010; Mehetre et al., 2003). Diploid species are also useful for the characterization of specific traits that may be influenced by genes on both sub‐genomes of the cultivated tetraploid species.…”