Abstract

Early maturity is critical for Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in short-season, mechanized regions like Xinjiang in China, yet often compromises lint percentage and fiber quality due to persistent genetic trade-offs. Consequently, cultivars combining early maturity with high yield and fiber quality remain rare. Addressing this, we developed the ZM113 series, comprising six elite cultivars centered on the backbone parent Zhongmian 113. These varieties exhibit coordinated performance across maturity, lint percentage, and fiber quality, offering practical multi-trait combinations for early-maturing environments. Using resequencing data from 3,765 accessions, we performed GWAS for maturity, yield, and fiber quality traits, integrating LD block consolidation and haplotype evaluation to define elite QTL sets. At the population level, the accumulation of early-maturity favorable loci was generally accompanied by …

Date

2026

Authors

Xuehong Song, Shuai Dai, Yulong Lv, Tianwei Li, Xiaoyu Pei, Yuzhi Zhang, Gongye Cheng, Yu Gao, Yu Liang, Xingxing Wang, Xiang Ren, Meng Kang, Songjuan Tan, Zhenyu Wang, Xiongfeng Ma

Journal

Molecular Breeding

Volume

46

Issue

7

Pages

65

Publisher

Springer Netherlands