Negative heterosis in cotton yield challenges future crop production sustainability.
The researchers studied how different cotton plants combine to produce better yields. They looked at traits like the number of cotton bolls, seeds per boll, and lint weight. They found that some traits were influenced by both the overall genetic makeup of the plants and specific combinations of parents. Some traits showed overdominance, where the combination was better than either parent alone. The number of important genetic factors varied for each trait. Overall, the researchers found that some traits were more heritable than others, with lint weight being the least heritable.
