Effects of chromosome-specific introgression in upland cotton on fiber and agronomic traits

Interspecific chromosome substitution is among the most powerful means of introgression and steps toward quantitative trait locus (QTL) identification. By reducing the genetic "noise" from other chromosomes, it greatly empowers the detection of genetic effects by specific chromosomes on quantitative traits. Here, we report on such results for 14 cotton lines (CS-B) with specific chromosomes or chromosome arms from G. barbadense L. substituted into G. hirsutum and chromosome-specific F2 families. Boll size, lint percentage, micronaire, 2.5% span length, elongation, strength, and yield were measured by replicated field experiments in five diverse environments and analyzed under an additive-dominance (AD) genetic model with genotype and environment interaction. Additive effects were significant for all traits and dominance effects were significant for all traits except 2.5% span length. CS-B25 had additive effects increasing fiber strength and fiber length and decreasing micronaire. CS-B16 and CS-B18 had additive effects related to reduced yields. The results point toward specific chromosomes of G. barbadense 3-79 as the probable locations of the genes that significantly affect quantitative traits of importance. Our results provided a scope to analyze individual chromosomes of the genome in homozygous and heterozygous conditions and thus detected novel effects of alleles controlling important QTL.