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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #230293
Title: Impact of heterozygosity and heterogeneity on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) lint yield stability

Author
item COLE, CLAY - NC STATE UNIV., RALEIGH
item BOWMAN, DARYL - NC STATE UNIV., RALEIGH
item BOURLAND, FREDDIE - UNIV. AR, KEISER
item CALDWELL, WILLIAM - LA STATE UNIV AG. CEN.
item Campbell, Benjamin - Todd
item FRASER, DAWN - DELTA & PINE LAND CO.
item WEAVER, DAVID - AUBURN UNIV., AUBURN, AL

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2008
Publication Date: 8/9/2009
Citation: Cole, C.B., Bowman, D.T., Bourland, F.M., Caldwell, W.D., Campbell, B.T., Fraser, D.E., Weaver, D.G. 2009. Impact of heterozygosity and heterogeneity on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) lint yield stability. Crop Science. 49:1577-1585.

Interpretive Summary: Recent variability of cotton lint yields is six times larger than variability during the 1920’s. An eighteen-environment field study was undertaken to observe the impact of heterozygosity and heterogeneity on lint yield stability. The heterozygous populations had a 17% increase in stability compared to the homozygous populations. The heterogeneous populations had a 4% decrease in stability compared to the homogeneous populations. Stability was due to heterosis observed in the low yielding environments that diminished in the high yielding environments, which reduced the range of yields over environments. Hybrid cultivars are a viable option for increasing yield stability.

Technical Abstract: An 18-environment field study was undertaken to observe lint yield stability in four population types of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) that included: pure lines grown in pure stands (homozygous/homogeneous), pure lines grown in blended stands (homozygous/ heterogeneous), hybrids grown in pure stands (heterozygous/homogeneous), and hybrids grown in blended stands (heterozygous/heterogeneous). Cotton lint yield was measured on each plot. Population types were compared using trait means, standard deviation (SD), and the coefficients of variation (CV) calculated over environments. The heterozygous populations had a higher mean yield than the homozygous populations; this difference was attributed to heterosis but was not consistent over environments and diminished as environmental mean increased (correlation of -0.72). The heterozygous populations had a lower CV (were more stable) than the homozygous populations. This stability was attributed to the heterozygous populations having a reduced range in yields as compared to the homozygous populations, such that the hybrids and blends of hybrids out-yielded the parents and blends of parents in the low-yielding environments but had similar yields in the high-yielding environments.