Using Extra Long Staple Upland Germplasm in a Breeding Program

Fiber quality improvement of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is essential to increase the value and competitiveness of cotton fiber. Sea Island or pima cotton (G. barbadense) has long been targeted as a source of beneficial fiber quality alleles. For the most part, cultivar development programs have seen little success using this approach. In this study, we evaluated the breeding potential of extra-long staple (ELS) upland accessions that presumably contain fewer G. barbadense chromatin. Genetic analyses indicated that ELS upland accessions transmitted both additive and non-additive beneficial alleles for fiber length and micronaire. However, they also transmitted negative effects for lint percent, lint yield, and fiber strength. Although our results demonstrate that ELS upland accessions are a good source for improving fiber length, deleterious effects associated with interspecific hybridization still proliferate in offspring derived from ELS upland accessions.