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Stormproof Boll in Upland Cotton. II. Heritability and Agronomic Relationships¹

The stormproof boll is an important characteristic of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars grown in regions where severe weather prevails after bolls open and where once-over stripper-type harvesters are used. The objectives of the study were to determine the heritability of the stormproof trait and to evaluate the relationships among stormproofness and other agronomic and fiber characteristics. A composite cross population was developed from six stormproof and four nonstormproof cultivars. From this population, 79 random F₃ plants were advanced by self-pollination to the F₄ and F₅ generations. The study was conducted at two locations in 2 years.

At both locations the mean stormproofness of the F₄ was significantly larger (by 1.5%) than the mean of the F₅ in the same year, indicating residual dominance of the stormproof boll after three generations of selling in the population. Heritability was high for the stormproof trait when calculated by parent-offspring regression, but was more consistent over locations and years when it was calculated in standard deviation units. Of the 10 agronomic and fiber traits measured, seed size, fiber length, and fiber strength exhibited a consistent positive association with stormproofness. High stormproof values were related to larger seed and longer, stronger fiber. We speculate that the relationships with fiber length and strength were associated with the tendency of fiber in stormproof bolls to be caught in the folds of the carpel walls. Positive correlations between lint yield and stormproofness at both locations in a year with severe environmental stress was explained as a physical holding of the fiber in the boll (rather than as a genetic effect).

Key Words: Lock tenacity • Storm loss • Gossypium hirsutum L. • Parent-offspring regression • Yield • Agronomic traits • Fiber traits • Genotype x environment interaction • Residual heterosis

² Research geneticist, research technician, and plant physiologist (retired), respectively; Cotton Production Laboratory, AR, SEA, USDA, Route 3, Lubbock, TX 79401.

Received for publication October 4, 1979.