Evaluation of Genetic Potential of Cotton Lines against Whitefly Tolerance

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutism L.) is a primary source of natural fiber, fuel, wood, and oil worldwide and an essential raw material source for the textile industry. Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) is one of the major pests distributed worldwide and has broad genetic diversity. In this research, the genetic diversity in the cotton germplasm was explored against the whitefly infestation. Broad sense heritability is a common approach used to detect the association and inheritance of the target trait. Maximum (PIC 0.96) and minimum (PIC 0.36) polymorphism was explored by the SSR primer NAU 988 and NAU 5121, respectively, with an average value of 0.73. Pair-wise genetic estimation ranged from 0.500 to 1.00. Neighbor-joining (NJ) tree, based on UPGMA (Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic), grouped the genotypes into six main clusters, i.e., A, B, C, D, E, and F. Maximum accessions fall into a single cluster showing low genetic diversity among them. The upland cotton accessions FH 326, SLH 07, FH18, and Cris 541, showed divergence from the rest of the genotypes and might have resistance against the whitefly attack. Our results also explain the utilization of the SSR markers to explore genetic diversity and its utilization in a cotton breeding program.