Impact of Breeding Methods on Fiber Length Distribution Improvement

While effective for improving qualitative traits where superior phenotypes can be effectively observed and selected, pedigree selection becomes limited, because of individual plant selection, when trying to improve quantitative traits controlled by a large number of genes and influenced by environmental factors. Additionally, making selections within heterogeneous germplasm can lead to inefficient breeding progress by advancing segregating materials and therefore delaying the development of homogeneous lines, while potentially inadvisably eliminating germplasm that could contribute to the quantitative trait of interest. In this study, 8 F2 populations were generated using obsolete cotton varieties developed prior to widespread cotton characterization with the HVI. Concurrent but separate from pedigree selection, these populations are under development using a modified single boll descent strategy where selection for fiber length distribution will be delayed to later generations when a greater degree of homogeneity within the population has been established. The genetic improvement of the two breeding schemes will be compared to identify the most appropriate breeding method for improving cotton fiber length distributions.