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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Crop Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #261169
Title: Performance and combining ability in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) populations with diverse parents

Author
item Hinze, Lori
item Campbell, Benjamin - Todd
item Kohel, Russell

Submitted to: Euphytica
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/16/2011
Publication Date: 8/10/2011
Citation: Hinze, L.L., Campbell, B.T., Kohel, R.J. 2011. Performance and combining ability in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) populations with diverse parents. Euphytica. 181:115-125.

Interpretive Summary: As technology advances, the textile industry demands higher quality cotton to develop high quality textiles under the conditions of the superior spinning machinery available. As input costs increase, farmers demand higher yielding cotton to provide more income to outpace the increasing expenses of cotton production. Improving both of these traits (fiber quality and yield) have increasingly become important goals of cotton breeding programs. The utility of a breeding program would be increased if it were demonstrated that fiber quality and yield could be improved simultaneously. Through analysis of a diverse group of seven parents and their resulting progeny, we demonstrated that it was difficult but not impossible to increase lint yield and fiber quality simultaneously. We also established that greater progress can be made when improving these traits individually rather than improving them at the same time. Use of these selected parents will allow breeders to ultimately develop enhanced cottons commercially-acceptable to both farmers and textile manufacturers.

Technical Abstract: Improving fiber quality properties of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is important for increasing the efficiency of manufacturing textiles, including enhancing yarn quality and spinning performance. This study was conducted to determine if we could identify useful cotton cultivars to use as parents in breeding programs with the goal of improving fiber properties. Seven parents were combined in a diallel design and selfed to obtain 21 F2 populations. Positive general and specific combining ability effects were observed for all traits. General combining ability tended to be larger than specific combining ability, indicating these traits are controlled primarily by additive genetic effects. Correlations among traits were generally positive except for lint yield correlations with fiber strength and length. For improving the fiber quality measures of strength and length, line 7235 shows excellent general combining ability effects. SG125 would provide elite germplasm to increase agronomic measures of lint yield and lint percent. The MD51 genotype has the highest potential among the genotypes tested here to provide germplasm combining both improved yield and fiber strength. These parents, or their selected progeny, should be useful in a breeding program to generate variability from which selection can identify lines with improved fiber and/or agronomic properties.