Abstract:
Cotton leaf curl virus
(CLCuV) and heat stress are the major
threats to cotton productivity in Pakistan.
Both these factors inflicted huge losses in
recent years. Thirty one genotypes of
Gossypium hirsutum L. were sown in the
experimental area of Cotton Research
Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan, on 25th of
May for the purpose of screening against
aforementioned stresses. Analysis of
variance revealed significant variation
among the tested genotypes. Some of the
genotypes showed promising results in
terms of CLCuV and also showed fair
stability of their membranes. The strain FH-
142 showed excellent tolerance level against
CLCuV and heat stress by showing the
values of 0.4% for cotton leaf curl virus and
membrane stability of 46.1%. The other
genotypes that showed promising results in
terms of CLCuV % are FH-330, MNH-886,
MNH-814 and FH-312 and regarding heat
stress MNH-456, FH-142, FH-118, CRSM-
38 and NIAB-112 exhibited promising
results by showing the CMT % of 46.4%,
46.1, 45.5, 45.5, 44.1, and 41.9%,
respectively. The findings of the experiment
may be helpful in designing breeding
programmes regarding CLCuV and heat
tolerance as material had considerable
potential for better yield as well.
