Prediction of F 2 Hybrid Performance for Lint Yield and Fiber Quality by SSR-Based Genetic Distance

F2 hybrids derived from crosses between cultivars and exotic germplasm lines were evaluated for lint yield and fiber quality during 2008 and 2009. 114 SSR primer pairs amplified 284 polymorphic fragments. Pair-wise genetic distances (GD) were estimated among parents based on SSR markers. Correlations between SSR-based GD and F2 hybrid performance were observed for some fiber properties, but the correlations were low. Moderate correlations were identified between genetically differentiated germplasm groups. Results suggest that prediction of hybrid performance using molecular marker based GD may be effective when parents are arrayed from genetically differentiated germplasm groups.