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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 #307618
Title: Genetic analysis of some agronomic and fiber traits in Gossypium hirsutum L. grown in field conditions

Author
item KALEEM, MUHAMMAD - University Of Agriculture - Pakistan
item RANA, IQRAR - University Of Agriculture - Pakistan
item SHAKEEL, AMIR - University Of Agriculture - Pakistan
item Hinze, Lori
item ATIF, RANA - University Of Agriculture - Pakistan
item AZHAR, MUHAMMAD - University Of Agriculture - Pakistan

Submitted to: Turkish Journal of Field Crops
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/29/2016
Publication Date: 12/1/2016
Citation: Kaleem, M.N., Rana, I.A., Shakeel, A., Hinze, L.L., Atif, R.M., Azhar, M.T. 2016. Genetic analysis of some agronomic and fiber traits in Gossypium hirsutum L. grown in field conditions. Turkish Journal of Field Crops. 21(2):240-245.

Interpretive Summary: The economy of Pakistan relies heavily on cotton production and the textile industry that stems from this production. Therefore, high-yielding cottons with improved fiber quality are necessary to sustain this industry. In an effort to better understand and enhance the genetics of Pakistani cotton, this manuscript reports on the genetic interactions among five genotypes of cotton developed in Pakistan. These results provide general guidance on the potential benefits and problems that may result when these genotypes are used in cotton breeding programs. General and specific combining ability for agronomic, yield, and fiber components were measured in these crosses. One of the Pakistani genotypes was associated with good general combining ability for plant height, gin turnout, and fiber strength. Two different genotypes were associated with increased boll number, yield, and fiber length. Analyses indicated that interactions between genes were generally more important than interactions between alleles within a gene for these traits in this set of hybrids. The information in this study will be useful to plant breeders in Pakistan when deciding how to use these lines in their breeding programs.

Technical Abstract: Cotton production is an essential component of the economy of Pakistan, and continuing to improve the yield and fiber quality of this crop will ensure the future stability of this industry. Combining ability describes the performance of genotypes when they are crossed together, and it is a common method used to determine the genetic potential of genotypes. A complete diallel mating design was used to study the combining ability of a set of upland cotton genotypes developed in Pakistan. Five parents namely, IR-NIBGE-3, FH-166, KZ-189, MS-40 and B-557 were hybridized in a glasshouse. The F1 seeds with their five parents were planted in field conditions using a randomized complete block design with three replications. The general combining ability analysis revealed that IR-NIBGE-3 was a good general combiner for plant height, gin turnout and fiber strength, while KZ-189 and FH-166 were good general combiners for number of bolls per plant, yield of seed cotton and staple length. The combination of FH-166 x B-557 and MS-40 x B-557 exhibited the best specific combining ability for number of bolls per plant, yield of seed cotton and gin turnout; whereas KZ-189 x B-557 and MS-40 x KZ-189 were the best crosses for fiber length and fiber strength, respectively. SCA variance was greater than GCA variance for all traits indicating the importance on non-additive effects in the genetic control of these traits. This study indicates that these particular crosses may be used in Pakistan for the development of improved germplasm for fiber and yield related traits.