No abstract

Eight extra‐long staple (ELS) upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) germplasm lines, TAM A106‐15 ELS (Reg. No. GP‐894, PI 654359), TAM A106‐16 ELS (Reg. No. GP‐895, PI 654360), TAM B147‐21 ELS (Reg. No. GP‐896, PI 654361), TAM B182‐33 ELS (Reg. No. GP‐897, PI 654362), TAM C66‐16 ELS (Reg. No. GP‐898, PI 654363), TAM C66‐26 ELS (Reg. No. GP‐899, PI 654364), TAM C147‐42 ELS (Reg. No. GP‐900, PI 654365), and TAM C155‐22 ELS (Reg. No. GP‐901, PI 654366), were developed by the Cotton Improvement Laboratory, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas AgriLife Research (Texas A&M University, College Station), and released in 2008 as part of an ongoing effort to create germplasm with combinations of improved fiber quality parameters, especially upper half mean (UHM) length and fiber bundle strength. All ELS lines exhibited high volume instrument (HVI) UHM fiber length greater than 32.0 mm, which is the minimum UHM to be classified as ELS upland according to Cotton Incorporated. Seven of the eight lines equaled or exceeded the minimum UHM length of 34.8 mm for pima (G. barbadense L.) in the USDA 2007 pima loan schedule in at least one performance trial. Fiber bundle strengths of the eight lines were equal to or higher than ‘Fibermax 832’.

RMUP‐C5 (Random Mated Upland Population Cycle 5) (Reg. No. GP‐893, PI 652942) is a unique random mated germplasm population of Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) involving six cycles of random mating beginning with an 11 parent half diallel. This germplasm was developed through cooperative research by the USDA‐ARS, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, North Carolina State Agricultural Experiment Station, and Cotton Incorporated. Parents used in development represented nonrelated or distantly related cultivars or breeding lines from across the U.S. Cotton Belt. The bulked pollen method of pollination was used in the development, and there were six cycles of random mating, with intercrossing of the F1 considered cycle zero. Selfed seed of C5S1 has been released. Changes in correlations between traits among parents, C0, and C5 cycles show that after random mating, the C5 population has recombinations that should be useful for selection and cultivar development. Because this germplasm represents random mating among 11 very diverse breeding programs and includes parents from the major seed breeding companies, this population should be of value to breeders across the U.S. Cotton Belt.