Generation Means Analysis of Fiber Length and Fiber Bundle Strength Using Extra Long Staple Upland, Mutated Upland, and Interspecific Hybrid Germplasm.

The quality of upland cotton fiber continues to be improved by breeders, providing longer and stronger cotton fibers capable of producing high-quality spun yarns while withstanding faster processing speeds. An understanding of inheritance of fiber length and strength within and between wide-genetic bases will aid breeders in this effort. Thus, high volume instrumentation (HVI) upper half mean length and HVI fiber bundle strength of five cotton genotypes, representing a wide-genetic base, were subjected to a generation means analysis. Genotypes included one TAM ELS Upland lines, one mutated lines of TAM 94L-25, one experimental line derived through interspecific hybridization exhibiting high length, one experimental upland line exhibiting high strength, and TAMCOT 22 as an average quality check. Parents, their F₁ progeny without reciprocals, F₂, and backcross generations were grown near College Station, TX in 2010 and 2011 in a split-plot design inside a randomized complete block design with four replications. Samples were ginned on laboratory saw gin and sent to Cotton Incorporated for HVI evaluation.  Gene effects and heritability estimates will be presented.