(Courtesy Vasu Kuraparthy - North Carolina State)

Cotton leaves come in different shapes, with the usual leaves on the left, and the 'okra' shape on the right.

In central Arizona, the only white you’re likely to see on the ground in winter are the remnants of this year’s cotton harvest.

Now, new research could lead to farmers getting more cotton for less cost.

In a paper published December, North Carolina State University researchers identified the exact gene that gives an upland cotton leaf its basic shape. Cotton leaves come in two shapes, the typical, normal leaf with five wide leaves, and another shape with much skinnier leaves.

Scientists say the skinnier leaves are less susceptible to boll rot, and can mature earlier.

To figure out where that leaf-shape gene was, researchers were able to make the larger leaf plants form normal leaves by ‘silencing’ the suspected gene. They say this is a first step in breeding superior cotton varieties.

Upland Cotton brought in more than $86 million for Arizona farmers in 2015.

EDITORS NOTE: Article updated to reflect which kind of cotton leaf shapes were identified.