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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #94346
Title: PERFORMANCE OF LIBERTY-TOLERANT COTTON

Author
item DOTRAY, P - TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
item KEELING, J - TEXAS AGRIC EXPT STATION
item GANNAWAY, J - TEXAS AGRIC EXPT STATION
item BLAIR, L - TEXAS TECH UNIVERISTY
item Quisenberry, Jerry
item Oliver, Melvin

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/6/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A research project was initiated in 1995 to develop Liberty-tolerant cotton using genetic engineering techniques. A plant chimeric bar gene was introduced into Coker 312 using Agrobacterium infection of hypocotyls. PCR analysis and direct screening with Liberty were conducted on plantlets to determine if the bar gene was being expressed. Seeds were collected from tolerant plants. Field experiments were conducted in 1997 at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station near Lubbock to evaluate the performance of Liberty-tolerant cotton. Tolerance was evaluated at various cotton growth stages, various Liberty rates, and repeated Liberty applications. Liberty treatments were applied using a tractor-mounted compressed-air sprayer or a CO2 backpack sprayer that delivered 10 GPA. Plots were hand-weeded throughout the growing season. Liberty at 0.54 pounds ai/A was applied to Liberty-tolerant cotton at the cotyledonary, 2-3 leaf, 4-5 leaf, first square, first bloom, peak bloom, cutout, or 50% open boll stages of growth In a second test, Liberty was applied to 2-3 leaf cotton at 0.36, 0.72, 1.44, or 2.88 lbs/A. In a third test, Liberty at 0.54 was applied to cotton in the 0-1, 3-4, 9-10, or 14-15 leaf stage in single and sequential applications. Visual injury and plant heights were recorded throughout the growing season and stand recorded 14 days after treatment. Plants were mapped at harvest and lint yield and fiber quality determined. Only 9% of plants were observed to be non-transgenic. No visual crop injury was observed in these tests. No differences in plant height, nodes per plant, or first position bolls were observed following any Liberty application. No Liberty application adversely affected cotton yield. We conclude that the transformation events in Coker 312 were successful and the gene for Liberty