Registration of Four Germplasm Lines of Upland Cotton with High Fiber Quality

Four upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) germplasm lines, NC18-11 (Reg. no. GP-1056, PI 690771), NC18-12 (Reg. no. GP-1057, PI 690772), NC18-13 (Reg. no. GP-1058, PI 690773), and NC18-14 (Reg. no. GP-1059, PI 690774), were developed by the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at North Carolina State University. These four cotton lines had improved fiber quality traits and exhibited 915.5 to 1180.9 kg ha(-1) lint yield. All four lines were derived from a random mated population using multiple parental lines. The four lines were compared with commercial cultivars 'DP393', 'Sure-Grow 747', and 'UA48' over 2 yr using a replicated randomized complete block design in Clayton, NC. Lines NC18-11, NC18-12, and NC18-13 had significantly (p = 0.05) better micronaire values than the checks and significantly higher strength values (8.3-25.3%) than DP393, Sure-Grow 747, and the parental lines. These three lines also had significantly (p = 0.05) greater upper half mean length values (4.9-11.6%) than DP393 and Sure-Grow 747. Germplasm line NC18-14 had a 15.4 to 62.5% significantly (p = 0.05) higher fiber elongation value than all checks and parental lines and showed 5.0 to 12.8% more lint fraction than the checks. These lines could be additional sources of genetic variability for cotton breeding programs focusing on improving fiber quality traits while still producing more than 900 kg ha(-1) of lint.