Impact of heat stress on agro-morphological, physio-chemical and fiber related paramters in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genotypes
The unpredictably changing climatic conditions, especially high temperatures, are putting a continuous
threat to sustainable cotton production. The current study was designed to investigate the impact of heat
stress on several morpho-physiological, biochemical, and fibre quality-related traits. The results revealed
the presence of significant variations in agro-morphological, physio-chemical and staple length-related
parameters for upland cotton genotypes and stress treatments. Further analysis of pooled data unveiled
that heat stress had a detrimental impact on all studied plant traits. Severe reduction in plant height,
nodes per plant, sympodial branches per plant, number of bolls per plant, ginning out-turn, and staple
length were recorded under heat stress. A significant reduction in net photosynthetic rate (Pn) up to
28.6 % was observed in cotton genotype BH-200 (24.7 to 19.2 lmole m2 s1). The accumulation of
hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was increased from 7.1 % in BH-306 to 28.7 % in BH-200 under heat stress
due to the incidence of oxidative stress. A substantial increase in the accumulation of antioxidants i.e.,
catalase (65 %–74 %), peroxidase (54 %–169 %), and superoxide dismutase (52 %–98 %) was seen under
high-temperature stress conditions. The correlation coefficient analysis unveiled a significantly positive
correlation of seed cotton yield with nodes per plant (r = 0.432*), net photosynthetic rate (r = 0.829**),
peroxidase (r = 0.974**), and superoxide dismutase (r = 0.868**), under heat stress conditions. However,
a negative but statistically significant correlation of seed cotton yield with ginning out turn (r = 0.46
6*), staple length (r = 0.898**), hydrogen peroxide (r = 0.955**) and catalase (r = 0.904**) was also
observed. The overall results unveiled that cotton genotype BH-232 has a comparatively higher heat tolerance
than other contesting genotypes while BH-306 showed the highest susceptibility to heat stress.
Hence, BH-232 could be recommended after its approval for general cultivation in heat-prone areas of
Pakistan.
The unpredictably changing climatic conditions, especially high temperatures, are putting a continuous
threat to sustainable cotton production. The current study was designed to investigate…
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