Association mapping analysis of fiber yield and quality traits in Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Fiber yield and quality are the most important traits for Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Identifying high yield and good fiber quality genes are the prime concern of researchers in cotton breeding. Association mapping offers an alternative and powerful method for detecting those complex agronomic traits. In this study, 198 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were used to screen markers associated with fiber yield and quality traits with 302 elite Upland cotton accessions that were evaluated in 12 locations representing the Yellow River and Yangtze River cotton growing regions of China. Three subpopulations were found after the estimation of population structure. The pair-wise kinship values varied from 0 to 0.867. Only 1.59% of the total marker locus pairs showed significant linkage disequilibrium (LD, p