Exploring Exotic Germplasm for Improving Lint Yield and Fiber Quality in Upland Cotton

This poster will present our research on exploration of two exotic germplasm resources, Species Polycross (SP) and John Cotton (JC), in recent years. These two germplasm populations were initiated by US cotton breeders in 1960s and 1970s and underwent long term introgression and selfing. The two populations were evaluated in fields during 2005 and 2009 for lint yield and fiber quality. Significant genotypic variations for yield and fiber quality were identified in both SP and JC populations. Multiple crosses were made between the selected exotic germplasm lines and existing cultivars and breeding lines in order to determine their combining ability for yield traits and fiber properties and dissect genetic variances. Molecular markers were also screened in a subpopulation of SP germplasm to identify marker-trait associations.