Assessing genetic variation in Gossypium barbadense L. germplasm based on fibre characters

Abstract Background Gossypium barbadense L. has specific fibre in terms of its length, strength, and fineness, and known as extra-long staple (ELS) cotton, Sea–Island cotton, or Egyptian cotton. Narrow genetic base with less genetic variability is observed in G. barbadense germplasm. Hence, this study was aimed to evaluate the genetic variability present in 108 germplasm accessions of G. barbadense and to identify the superior genotypes based on the fibre traits. Results We evaluated 108 accessions for five fibre quality traits along with three checks in augmented block design. All fibre traits showed significant differences among genotypes, indicating that there is genetic potential for improvement. Fibre strength and micronaire (MIC) showed high phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation. High heritability combined with high genetic advance as percentage of mean (GAM) was recorded for fibre length, strength, and micronaire. Fibre strength and fibre length were significantly correlated with each other, while both showed negative correlation with micronaire. Principal component analysis and Biplot analysis showed that uniformity index discriminated all the genotypes in higher level, while fibre length and strength were medium in discrimination power. Biplot revealed genotypes DB 16, EC959191, GSB 39, ARBB 20, 5746U, EA 203, and EA 201 were genetically diverse. Hierarchal cluster analysis based on unweighted paired group method using arithmetic average (UPGMA) grouped the genotypes into four clusters, with each cluster consisting of 4, 18, 48, and 38 genotypes, respectively. Conclusion Among the genotypes, 34 for fibre length (> 35 mm), 18 for fibre strength (> 40.4 g·tex −1 ) and 66 for micronaire (3.7-4.2, A grade) were identified as potential accessions based on their superiority. The superior fibre genotypes identified in this study are potential lines for the ELS cotton breeding program.