Muhammad Nour Al-Assaf*1, Jamila Derbas1 and Ahmad Shams Al-Dien Shaaban2
1 General Center of scientific agriculture research, Cotton Research Department, Aleppo.
2 University of Aleppo, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Field crop Department.
(*Corresponding author: Muhammad Nour Al-Assaf, Email: assafnoor57@gmail.com).
Received: 1/ 1/ 2026 Accepted: 7/ 4/ 2026
Abstract:
The research was carried out at Tal Hadya Cotton Research Station of the Cotton Research Department in Syria, during the season 2022, for study the general and specific combining ability to select the best genetic segregations for some technological traits of sixteen hybrids (F2) obtained according to the hybridization design (line x tester) from eight genotypes of cotton as lines: Aleppo118, Aleppo90, Raqqa5 and Aleppo124, and as testers: Lider, Stonvill468, Fantum and Ncch. The parental lines and hybrids were planted in three replicates according to a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The results of the analysis of variance for the mean squares of lines and testers (GCA) and the mean squares of lines × testers (SCA) indicated statistically significant differences for all genotypes in the fiber length and for hybrids and testers in the trait of cohesion, and for testers in the trait of fineness. The variance resulting from the testers (GCA) was significant for all of the studied traits except for the trait of elongation, which indicates the importance of additive gene action in the inheritance of the studied traits. It was also found that the Stonvill468 genotype had highly significant GCA values for fiber length and fiber fineness, and the Lider genotype had desirable GCA values for fiber length and fiber strength (Pressly), while the Ncch genotype had highly significant GCA values for strength (cohesion). The Aleppo 118 was also characterized by a highly significant effect value for the fiber length trait. Significant and highly significant values appeared for the specific ability of combining for the fiber length trait in the two hybrids (Aleppo 118×Lider), (Aleppo 124× Stonvill 468), for the strength (Pressly) in the hybrid (Aleppo 90×Lider), for the cohesion trait in the hybrid (Aleppo 90×Ncch), and for the fineness and strength trait (Pressley) in the hybrid (Raqqah 5×Lider), and for the length and fineness traits, strength (Pressley) and elongation in the hybrid (Aleppo 118× Stonevill468), These hybrids were the result of two parents whose general ability of combining is high to moderate, and their gene action was (additive x additive). Selecting in these hybrids in future progenies is useful because the genetic segregations are low.
Keywords: combining ability effects, line x testers analysis, cotton, Hybrids.
Full paper in Arabic: PDF