Preliminary Study on Heterosis of Interspecific Hybrid Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum×G.barbadense) Based on Cytoplasmic Male-sterility System

Study was made on the performance of interspecific (Gossypium hirsutum×G. barbadense) and intraspecific (G. hirsutum×G. hirsutum) hybrid cotton based on cytoplasmic male-sterility system, compared with inbred cultivars. Data showed that interspecific hybrids were significantly higher than intraspecific hybrids and inbred cultivars in height, number of fruit branches, number of fruit nodes, number of bolls and percentage of aborted seeds. However, boll weight and lint percentage were significantly lower, especially for boll weight, the maximum was only 3.3 g for interspecific hybrids, but for intraspecific hybrids, the minimum reached 4.7 g. Generally, lint yield of interspecific hybrids was significantly lower than intraspecific hybrids, but a few of interspecific hybrids presented an acceptable lint yield, for example, there was no significant difference between Hailu No.1 (an interspecific hybrid) and CCRI 12 (a commercial cultivar) or Zheza 166 (an intraspecific hybrid). For fiber properties, interspecific hybrids were significantly better, especially in fiber length, strength and elongation span, the maximum of that was 35.3 mm、43.6 cN·tex~(-1) and 7.8%, respectively.