Boll Development Characteristics for High-Quality Upland Cotton Cultivars

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the boll development characteristics of high-quality cotton cultivars.Two cultivars of high quality upland cotton,including hybrid Kemian 3 and conventional Kemian 4,with the conventional fiber quality cultivar Sumian 15 as control were planted on the farm of Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Crops Genetics and Physiology of Yangzhou University from 2004 to 2005.The results showed that the boll development characteristics were different between high-quality upland cotton and the conventional cotton.In comparison to the control,high quality cotton had longer boll length,similar boll diameter,bigger boll volume and higher boll weight.Kemian 3 had faster increase of the boll length within 10 days post anthesis(DPA),Kemian 4 within both 10 days and 20 to 30 DPA,and both of high quality cotton had slower expansion of the boll diameter within 10 DPA,and shorter expansion period of boll diamete,as well as bigger increase of the boll volume within 20 DPA,especially from 10 to 20 DPA.The boll weight increase was higher after 10 DPA for Kemian 3,and before 20 DPA for Kemian 4.The results suggested that boll length is the important index for high quality fiber cotton breeding and developing bigger and high-weight bolls is the key way in the cultivation for high lint yield and good fiber quality.