Project Number: 6202-21000-031-04
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jul 01, 2008
End Date: Dec 01, 2008

Objective:
Develop broadly adapted and elite upland cotton germplasm that can be used for fiber quality improvement and heat tolerance for the Southeast and Midsouth. Develop greater heat-tolerant germplasm possessing Acala fiber for the West. Increase genetic diversity in high quality cotton gene pools.

Approach:
Several diverse upland populations will be created by double crossing of heat-tolerant and high-fiber-quality parents. Individual plant selection will be conducted under the high temperature stress environment of Maricopa, AZ. At an early generation, prospective lines will undergo un-replicated testing/selection under multiple environments that include Maricopa, AZ (coordinated by Dr. Richard Percy), South Carolina (Dr. Todd Campbell), Georgia (Drs. Ping Chee and Ed Lubbers), Louisiana (Dr. Gerald Myers), and California (Dr. Mauricio Ulloa). The primary traits evaluated in AZ in the summer will be plant mapping for fruit retention, pollen sterility, yield, and fiber quality. At the remaining locations, the primary selection/evaluation criteria will be adaptation, yield, and fiber quality. Lines demonstrating good heat tolerance, superior fiber quality, and across-location adaptation will be entered into replicated tests across the above mentioned environments. The cooperative breeding and early generation evaluation scheme should result in simultaneous genetic advance for heat stress tolerance, yield, and fiber quality. This research should produce new high quality and stress-tolerant germplasm that will be "jointly-released" to the public by USDA-ARS, state experiment stations, and Cotton Incorporated. In 2008, lines that have been developed under the heat stress environment of Maricopa, AZ, and have undergone early generation evaluation in Arizona, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, and California in 2007 will be placed in replicated tests at the above locations. The Maricopa, AZ, location will serve as the primary site for heat tolerance under field conditions in a heat stress environment. Superior lines will be released to public and private breeding and improvement programs.