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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #260981
Title: Impact of heterozygosity and heterogeneity on cotton lint yield stability: II. Lint yield components

Author
item COLE, CLAY - North Carolina State University
item BOWMAN, DARYL - North Carolina State University
item BOURLAND, FRED - University Of Arkansas
item CALDWELL, WILLIAM - Louisiana State University
item Campbell, Benjamin - Todd
item FRASER, DAWN - Delta & Pine Land Company
item WEAVER, DAVID - Auburn University

Submitted to: Journal of Cotton Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2015
Publication Date: 4/1/2016
Citation: Cole, C.B., Bowman, D.T., Bourland, F.M., Caldwell, W.D., Campbell, B.T., Fraser, D.E., Weaver, D.B. 2016. Impact of heterozygosity and heterogeneity on cotton lint yield stability: II. Lint yield components. Journal of Cotton Science. 20:125-131.

Interpretive Summary: Cotton lint yield is composed of many components including the number of bolls/acre, fiber traits, and seed traits. The coefficients of variation of twelve yield components in four population types differing for intra-genetic diversity were observed to discern which factions contributed to lint yield stability. Only the number of bolls/acre showed decisive differences between population types. The heterozygous populations were more stabile than the homozygous populations. Stability was attributed to the heterozygous populations producing more bolls than the homozygous populations in the low yielding environments and similar numbers of bolls in the high yielding environments.

Technical Abstract: In order to determine which yield components may contribute to yield stability, an 18-environment field study was undertaken to observe the mean, standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variation (CV) for cotton lint yield components in population types that differed for lint yield stability. This difference resulted in the hybrids and blends of hybrids (heterozygous populations) being more stable than the parents and blends of parents (homozygous populations). No within-boll component showed convincing evidence of differences between population types with respect to CV values. The CV values observed for bolls/hectare followed the same trend as lint yield in which the heterozygous populations were more stable than homozygous populations. This trend was also observed for the mean number of bolls per hectare. Heterosis for boll production was not consistent across locations and declined with increasing environmental mean. Ultimately, the difference between population types, with respect to yield and stability, was attributed to the heterozygous entries producing more bolls in the low-yielding environments while producing numbers that were similar to the homozygous populations in the high-yielding environments. This reduced the range of lint yield, reduced the variation across locations, and resulted in increased lint yield stability.