UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, FAISALABAD

Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics

Faculty of Agriculture Faisalabad

(SYNOPSIS FOR MSc (Hons) PBG)

ESTIMATION OF COMBINING ABILITY FOR YIELD RELATED

TRAITS USING DIALLEL ANALYSIS IN UPLAND COTTON

Name of the Student. Adnan Abbas Shah

Registration No. 2021-ag-119

Abstract
The cultivation of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), which is crucial to Pakistan’s economic
growth, has been thoroughly researched in an effort to find ways to boost production per unit
of land. Consequently, a number of high-yielding varieties have been produced, helping to
raise the nation’s overall seed cotton yield. Six cotton lines will be gathered from the cotton
research group and planted in earthen pots in the green house in 2022-2023. These lines will
cross in a full diallel mating pattern while in flowering. All precautions will be taken to prevent
contamination or alien pollens. F0 will be sown in 3 replications across the field using a
randomized complete design. All agronomic procedures will be followed consistently to ensure
a good crop. Data will be collected from five guarded plants in each row, when each of these
plants reaches at maturity. To evaluate the significance of variations among genotypes for the
under-researched plant traits, the collected data will be subjected to the analysis of variance
technique. The primary objective of cotton breeders is to develop new cotton varieties with
high yield and fiber quality. Further breeding objectives can be met by using both general and
specific estimates of Combining Abilities, which are useful tools for determining gene action.
In order to identify potential breeding material, the aim of this study is to evaluate GCA and
SCA in existing cotton cultivars and advance breeding lines for various traits.

Keyword: Cotton, Additive gene effects, fiber quality traits, diallel analysis,
 UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, FAISALABAD

Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics

Faculty of Agriculture Faisalabad

(SYNOPSIS FOR MSc (Hons) PBG)

I. ESTIMATION OF COMBINING ABILITY FOR YIELD

RELATED TRAITS USING DIALLEL ANALYSIS IN UPLAND
COTTON

II. a) Date of Admission -------------------------

b) Date of Initiation (Research) -------------------------
c) Probable Duration (Research) -------------------------

III. PERSONNEL
a) Name of the Student Adnan Abbas Shah
b) Registration Number 2021-ag-119

IV. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE

i. Supervisor Dr. Amir Shakeel

ii. Member Dr. Huma Saleem

iii. Member Dr. Muhammad Dildar Gogi

V. Introduction

Cotton, also known as white gold, is a major cash crop that belongs to the Malvaceae family
and has a large genus, Gossypium. It contains fifty species and has thirteen basic
chromosome numbers, about 46 are wild and 4 are cultivated. Cotton is mainly grown in
tropical and subtropical regions around the world for fiber and oil (Poehlman and Sleeper,
1995). Pakistan is ranked fifth among the world’s top cotton major producers (Anonymous,
2020-2021). Cotton seed is major source of cooking oil in Pakistan, accounting for 70% of
vegetables oil production (Batool et al., 2010).

Cotton is primarily grown for its fiber, which contains 94% cellulose and 0.4-1.0% lignin
(Macmillan et al., 2013). Cotton seed contains two types of fibers: Fuzz fiber and lint fiber,
with fuzz being a short fiber and lint being a long fiber. Cotton fiber developed from ovule
epidermal cells that is a single celled fiber. In Cotton fiber (1.3%) is protein, ash and (1.2%)
is pectin, oil fats and waxes (0.6%), and sugar (0.3%). In linters cellulose is present, which is
a raw material used in a wide range of industries (Haiger et al., 2012).

Agriculture is responsible for 21% of total gross domestic production (GDP). Cotton is the
Pakistani economy’s backbone, providing foreign exchange through the export of cotton fiber
and fabrics. Cotton production increased from 11.46 million bales in 2011 to 13.595 million
bales in 2012, with yield increasing from 724 kg/ha to 815 kg/ha (Anonymous, 2011-12), An
analysis of cotton production in Pakistan confirms that production of cotton and yield differ
year to year. Many factors contribute to this fluctuation, including insect attacks, the
occurrence of cotton leaf curl virus (CLCV), high temperature, etc.

Cotton breeder’s primary goal is to create new cotton varieties with high yield and fiber
quality. Cotton production and yield can be maintained by developing high yielding varieties;
however, parent selection for the plant breeders is essential. The parents are chosen based on
the presence of favorable genes and their inheritance pattern. Breeding techniques such as
polyploidy, hybridization, and the introduction of exotic germplasm could be used to increase
genetic variability (Esmail et al., 2008). Similarly, there are several biometrical approaches
available to investigate various mechanisms or gene action for the control of important plant
parameters. One of them is diallel analysis, which is also used to examine the nature of
genetic variation inheritance in various plant characters (Griffing, 1956). Full diallel mating
design is also used to assess parental line’s combining abilities (Gilbert, 1958).

Previous studies that estimated Combining abilities for fiber strength, fiber fineness, ginning
turn out, fiber length, and fiber uniformity ratio suggested the idea of selection to improve
these traits (Green and Culp, 1990; Zeng and Pettigrew, 2015; Kothari et al., 2016; Zhang et
al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2017). GCA effects were found to be significant in another study for
fiber strength, fiber length, and fiber uniformity ratio (Coyle and Smith, 1997).
Both Combining Abilities, i.e., general and specific estimates, are useful tools for
determining gene action in order to achieve future breeding goals. As a result, the goal of
this study will be to assess GCA and SCA in existing cotton cultivars and advance breeding
lines for various traits in order to identify potential breeding material.

VI. Review of Literature

Bano et al. (2020) undertook a study for Cotton agronomic trait evaluation of some parents
and their hybrids. The current experiment was designed to investigate the genetic basis of
some agronomic traits that contribute to upland cotton yield. In this experiment, four
genotypes were used as parents: PB-896, PB-76, AGC-2 and VH-282, which were crossed in
all possible combinations. The data were analyzed using ANOVA to test the variation among
genotypes for these traits. For the parameters under consideration, all genotypes were highly
significant. It was discovered that parent AGC-2 has the highest plant height (84.30 cm), and
PB-76 has the lowest plant height (72.55 cm) of all the parents, while hybrid AGC-2 × PB-76
has the highest plant height (80.13 cm). The parent AGC-2 has the highest GOT (45.23%),
while the hybrid AGC-2 × PB-896 has the highest GOT (45.75%).

Kumar et al. (2015) investigated diallel analysis and heterotic impacts in cotton cultivars yield
and fiber related traits in 42 hybrid species derived from 7 parents in cotton cultivars. The
results showed that parent BW4-1 had the best mean performance all around for most of the
parameters. Plant height, seed cotton yield, lint index, number of bolls per plant, 2.5 percent
span length, days to first boll bursting and number of sympodial branches were shown to have
a positive and significant relative heterosis. Furthermore, the hybrid KC-2 × MCU-3 showed
positive and substantial relative heterosis and heterbeltiosis in terms of boll quantity per plant
and seed cotton yields.

Chaudhary et al. (2019) carried out an experiment in Cotton to estimate heterosis and
combining ability for various quantitative factors. In the present research, four cotton cultivars
were crossed in an irregular mating fashion: FH-942, NIAB-KIRN, PB-76 and PB-896. The
parents and F1 crosses were planted in 3 replications in the field using a randomize complete
block design. Data for yield and fiber-related characteristics were taken at maturity. The
NIAB-KIRN genotype displays dominant genes action for seed index, seed cotton yield per
plant and number of seed/bolls. As a result, was chosen as a competent general combiner.
Whereas PB-896 × FH-942 combination demonstrated very high heterosis for fiber and seed
cotton yields.

Hassan et al. (2021) used the Mather and Jinks technique to perform a full diallel experiment
to explore the gene action of various yield and yield related variables of four modern cotton
cultivars. According to the results on recorded parameters, many of the variables were
completely or partially appropriate for genetic analysis. The level of degree of dominance
(H1/D 0.5) revealed that additive gene action (D) was considerable and pre-dominant for all
characteristics, whereas seeds per locule demonstrated dominance impact of H1 and H2. All of
the characteristics investigated had a high value of narrow sense heritability, while seeds per
locule had a low heredity. The genetic research demonstrated that offspring and pedigree
selection could increase all the features, whereas hybrid vigor might be used to improve traits
like seeds per locule.

Bano et al. (2020) planned an experiment to investigate the genetic component of some
agronomic characteristics that contribute to upland cotton yield. In this trial, four genotypes
were used as parents: AGC-2, PB-896, VH-282 and PB-76, which were managed to cross in
all possible combinations. In the field, the F1 was assessed with four parents. Following
RCBD, these offspring were implanted in three replications. Data were collected at the
maturity stage. The outcomes were also highly significant for GCA. Further combining ability
effects and means revealed that AGC-2 was an excellent general combiner for plant height and
quantity of bolls per plant among the parents. Parents and crosses with high combining ability
for certain qualities might be employed in breeding programs to develop these attributes in
cotton.

Munir et al. (2016) conducted an experiment on a genetic investigation of Morphological and

Yield-Related Traits in Cotton. In this experiment for Earliness, fiber quality, and other yield-
related parameters, combining ability effects were identified in a population resulting from the
full diallel crossing of 6 different cotton genotypes. NIAB-777 was found to be the best
general combiner for number of sympodial branches, days to first boll opening, boll
maturation period, fiber strength, and boll weight, while MNH-886 was found to be the best
general combiner for number of bolls per plant, seed cotton yield, and seed weight. The
general combiner genotype PB-899 was effective for a variety of monopodial branches and
fiber length. The following combinations were regarded the best for further study: AA-802 ×
FH-114, MNH-886 × NIAB-777, and AA-802 × PB-899. Plant height, number of monopodial
and sympodial branches, days until first boll opening, weight of the boll, and strength, length
and fineness of the fiber were all important traits affected by non-additive genetic effects. The
length of the boll maturation period, days until the first flowering, the number of bolls per
plant, and the yield of seed cotton were all influenced by additive genetic effects. Simple
selection techniques can be used to improve traits that show additive genetic effects.

Khan et al. (2015) performed a study on combining ability studies for yield and fiber traits in
upland cotton. A 6 × 6 F1 cross of Gossypium hirsutum L. was used to examine genetic
potential and combining ability. In a randomized complete block design with three
replications, 30 F1 diallel offspring of six parental genotypes were grown. For all the traits,
mean squares resulting from GCA and SCA were highly significant. For majority traits, the
GCA mean squares were higher than the SCA mean squares, indicating that the inheritance
was governed by additive genes. The best performance for majority traits was therefore
demonstrated by high × low, low × high and occasionally high × high GCA parents. The yield
of seed cotton was significantly positively correlated with traits related to yield, but negatively
correlated with lint percentage. Early segregating generations and hybrid cotton production
could both benefit from selection in the above promising hybrids to increase the seed cotton
yield because additive gene action controlled inheritance.

VII. Materials and Methods/Methodology

The presented research will be carried out at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics,
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, to determine the combining ability effects of cotton lines
for some agronomic traits. Cotton lines Mubarak, NS-131, KZ-191, AGC-2, MNH-998, and
Cyto-608 will be collected from the cotton research group and planted in earthen pots in the
green house. During flowering, these varieties will cross in a complete diallel mating design,
with some buds self-pollinating. To avoid alien pollens or contamination, all precautionary
measures will be taken.

F0 Cotton seeds from 30 hybrids and their 6 parents will be sown in Three Replications in the
field using a Randomized Complete Block Design. Ten plants from each family will be planted
in each row, with plant to plant and row to row distances maintained. To ensure a good crop, all
agronomic practices will be implemented consistently. Data will be collected from five guarded
plants in each row. These guarded plants will be tagged separately, and data will be collected
when each plant reaches maturity.

The following traits will be recorded in the data:

Plant Height.

Days to First Boll Opening.

Number of Bolls Per Plant.

Number of Monopodial Branches.

Number of Sympodial Branches.

Seed cotton yield (g).

Seed weight (g/100).

Boll weight.

Seed index (g).

Ginning out turn (%).

Fiber strength.

Fiber length (mm).

Fiber fineness.

Lint index.

Statistical Analysis:

To determine whether the genotypic differences are significant, the collected data will be
subjected to the analysis of variance technique (Steel et al., 1997). The characters with notable
genotypic differences will undergo additional analysis using the combining ability technique
developed by Griffing (1956) Method I, Model II to investigate genetic mechanisms controlling
these traits.

VIII. References/Literature Cited

 SIGNATURES

Student: Adnan Abbas Shah

Supervisor: Dr. Amir Shakeel

Supervisory Committee