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Heterotic Effects in Topcrosses of Modern and Obsolete Cotton Cultivars

^a USDA-ARS, Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center, 2611 W. Lucas St., Florence, SC 29501
^b Dep. of Crop Science, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 28796
^c Dep. of Agronomy and Soils, Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL 36849

^* Corresponding author (todd.campbell{at}ars.usda.gov).

Historically, reselection, pedigree, and mass-selection breeding methods have been used to develop open-pollinated cultivars of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). As a result, modern cotton cultivars should have accumulated additive genetic effects with time, while also possessing fewer nonadditive gene effects than obsolete cultivars. A topcross test was conducted to compare the heterotic effects of obsolete and modern cultivars for yield, yield components, and fiber quality. Significant differences were detected between heterosis values for the modern and obsolete cultivar groups for seed cotton yield, lint yield, lint percentage, and boll weight. No significant heterotic effects were detected for fiber quality. The obsolete group of cultivars showed average lint yield heterosis values of 34% compared with 23% for the modern cultivars. Both cultivar groups displayed significant, but similar heterosis values for the number of bolls per square meter (17 and 15%, respectively). The major yield component associated with lint yield heterosis for both groups was bolls per square meter, although boll weight heterosis also contributed to lint yield heterosis for the obsolete cultivars. Although modern cultivars produced considerable heterotic effects for yield, this study demonstrates that obsolete cultivars may provide an additional source of nonadditive genetic effects that can be exploited in a hybrid production system.

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Received for publication June 26, 2007.