Amir Shakeel

• University of Agriculture Faisalabad

Cotton is considered as the main crop in the agricultural sector of Pakistan. Water deficiency in this region in recent years has reduced the chances of high yields of cotton. Selection and creation of high-yielding varieties of cotton, even in water deficit conditions, is one of urgent tasks of today. For this purpose, 40 diverse genotypes of upla...

Background Cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) is grown for fiber and oil purposes in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Pakistan is the 4th largest producer of cotton. It has a significant contribution in the GDP of Pakistan. Therefore, the present study was performed to assess the genetic variations and genetic diversity of yield and fiber...

The production of cotton is negatively affected by salinity. For this purpose, 8 parents and their 16 F1 hybrids were evaluated under saline stress (15 dSm −1) in Line × Tester fashion. Mean values of plant height, number of bolls plant −1 , boll weight, lint weight, seed cotton yield plant −1 , seed index, no. of seeds boll −1 , seed mass boll −1...

To understand the effect of heat stress on morphology and physiology of the cotton, eight cotton genotypes with their 15F1 hybrids (five lines, three testers) were grown in the field conditions under randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two treatments i.e. normal and high-temperature stresses with two replications followed by split-plot arr...

High temperature negatively affects cotton production worldwide. In Pakistan, cotton crop faces high temperature at peak flowering during June–July, which is a major reason for yield losses. The present study was conducted to find some agro-physiological markers for high-temperature tolerance. Fifty cotton genotypes were raised under normal sown (h...

Background: Gene action and combining ability of the genotypes are two important components in crop breeding and may be influenced by environmental stresses which sometimes mislead the selection process. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to assess the behavior of genetic parameters of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) under drought stress during the...

The genus Gossypium is comprised of more than 50 genetically diverse species with different origins and ploidy levels. Each of cultivated and wild species is a source of unique alleles to improve cotton crop under ever increasing fiber demand and rapidly evolving climatic factors. Formerly, most of the improvement has been made in cotton germplasm...

Salt-affected areas are increasing at a rapid rate that are decreasing agricultural productivity. For this purpose, 6 salt-tolerant and 3 salt-sensitive parents were crossed in a Line × Tester fashion and were sown under control, 10 and 15 dSm⁻¹ salt stress for 2 years. Data were recorded for various biochemical, agronomic, and fiber quality traits...

ERF is a subfamily of AP2/EREBP superfamily, contained single AP2 domain. The overexpression of ERF genes steered to abiotic stress tolerance and pathogen resistance in transgenic plants. Here, a genome-wide analysis of ERF gene family within two diploid species ( G. arboreum & G. raimondii ) and two tetraploid species ( G. barbadense, G. hirsutum...

Productivity of food crops like wheat, a staple food of major portion of the world, is hampered due to salinity stress, thereby threatening food security. With the advancements in plant physiology and molecular biology based techniques, a number of structural and regulatory genes (transcription factors, miRNA, siRNA etc.) have been identified that...

The introduction of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton has reduced the burden of pests without harming the environment and human health. However, the efficacy of Bt cotton has decreased due to field-evolved resistance in insect pests over time. In this review, we have discussed various factors that facilitate the evolution of resistance in cotton p...

Salt tolerance is a physiologically and genetically complex trait controlled by multiple genes. To analyze the genetic basis of salt tolerance we evaluated 18 F1 along with their nine parents under three salt stress levels i.e. control, 10 dS m⁻¹ and 15 dS m⁻¹ in the summer of 2017 and 2018. Data were recorded for the number of bolls, seed cotton y...

The objective of the present study was to estimate general combining ability (GCA) of the parents and specific combining ability (SCA) of crosses for the development of high yielding cotton varieties. The study was carried out at the experimental area of Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. A line × test...

The limited water supply for irrigation is a major constraint to cotton production. Morphological and physiological traits provide useful information for drought tolerance. This research work was carried out for the identification of cotton genotypes having better drought tolerance. For this purpose, forty (40) genotypes of upland cotton were studi...

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) productivity is decreasing alarmingly by salinity. For genetic analysis of cotton response to salinity 8 parental genotypes and their 16 F1 crosses were evaluated in Line × Tester fashion under normal and salt stress 15 dSm⁻¹. Data were recorded for plant height, number of bolls plant⁻¹, boll weight, lint weight, seed...

The salinity level is increasing in soil due to multiple reasons like uneven rainfall areas and effects of climate change. Such increase in salinity forced the cotton breeder for the development of new germplasm suitable for saline soils. For this purpose, a set of one hundred accessions of Gossypium hirsutum was assessed for salt tolerance in hydr...

The DNA-binding with one finger (Dof) proteins are transcription factors involved in many biological processes in plants. To predict the evolutionary pattern, a genome-wide in-silico analysis of Dof TFs family in diploid (Gossypium arboreum and Gossypium raimondii) and allotetraploid (Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense) cotton species were...

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is the study of the distribution of allelic and genotypic frequencies in a population. The objective of this study is to evaluate the allelic and genotypic frequency of different qualitative traits of men and women in Punjab, Pakistan. A total of 909 individuals were recruited for this study. In population, the frequency...

Salinity is the one of the major abiotic stress. It reduces the yield of different crops. In saline soil Na + , K + and Cl-are the dominate ions that effect the plant growth. It causes major effects on the cotton which is the most important fiber crop in Pakistan. The objective of this study was to screen such genotypes which can perform well under...

To investigate the water-deficit tolerance, 45 cotton genotypes were grown under normal irrigation and water-deficit conditions for 2 years. Genotype × treatment × year interaction was determined for seed cotton yield, number of bolls, boll weight, chlorophyll fluorescence, proline contents, and total soluble proteins. Apart from proline levels, al...

The availability of manual laborers for picking cotton is reducing in Pakistan therefore cotton farmers are facing a serious problem for timely harvesting. Under this scenario, mechanical picking is the best option. Non-availability of such cotton accessions, mechanical pickers and unawareness of production technologies are the preliminary issues t...

Salinity has drastic effects on plant growth and productivity and is one of the major factors responsible for crop yield losses throughout the agricultural soils of the world. The mechanisms of salinity tolerance in plants are regulated by a set of inherent multigenes and prevalent environmental factors, which bring about a myriad of metabolic chan...

High temperature during reproductive stages of cotton is a major constraint to achieve potential yield of cotton. The aim of the present study was to determine comparative thermo-sensitivity of squaring and flowering, to optimize exogenous selenium for heat-stressed cotton, and to explore correlation among physiochemical and morphological attribute...

The limited water supply for irrigation is a major constraint to cotton production. Various drought tolerance indices calculated on the basis of yield provide useful information for drought tolerance. The present study was conducted for the evaluation of nine indices related to drought tolerance, such as stress tolerance index (STI), yield index (Y...

Cotton is an important oilseed and fiber crop in Pakistan as well as in world. Improvement can be made in yield and fiber characteristics of cotton crop after understanding the various mechanisms of gene actions controlling the yield contributing traits.In the current study, four genotypes of cotton namely, NIAB-KIRN, FH-942, PB-896 and PB-76 were...

The present study was conducted to develop high yielding cotton genotypes having desirable fiber quality traits under water stress conditions. Ten upland cotton genotypes were identified as drought tolerant whereas six as drought susceptible based on root and shoot related traits. These sixteen genotypes were grown in the field conditions and cross...

Salinity stress is one of the most serious environmental problem that negatively affects the growth of plants, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Scientists have been struggling to address this problem through land reclamation methods and by adding various organic manures into the soil. However, the most cost effective method is to develop s...

The objective of this study was to investigate the general combining ability effects of parents and specific combining ability effects of crosses under normal and water deficit condition for various traits related to fibre quality. For this purpose, 50 F 1 crosses and their 15 parents was field planted under two different moisture regimes i.e. norm...

Salinity is a serious problem that limits crop growth and yield. The present study used plotting to evaluate 25 tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) accessions for various morpho-physiological parameters at the seedling stage and identify significantly salt-tolerant tomato lines at three different salinity levels. The pot experiment had a completely ra...

Fifty cotton genotypes were evaluated for NaCl tolerance in which plants were irrigated with nutrient solution with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 10 dS m-1 and 15 dS m-1 with the addition of NaCl from 10 d to 40 d seedlings. The chlorophyll contents, root and shoot lengths, root fresh and dry weights, shoot fresh and dry weights, Na + , K + an...

AGROSYM is an annual platform for international scientific discussion on agriculture, food, rural development, environment and forestry. AGROSYM represents a good opportunity to exchange ideas, to strengthen existing and to create new academic networks, and to foster dialogue between the academia, public institutions, the private sector and civil s...

Present investigation was conducted to study the genetic basis of seed cotton yield and fiber quality traits in cotton under normal and water deficit condition. 30F1 crosses along with 13 parents were planted under two stress levels i.e. normal and water-deficit conditions in field. The best general combiners under normal condition were FH-153, FH-...

Excessive use of insecticides, degradation of protein, insect resistance and premature senescence in Cry1Ac cotton are serious threats to the sustainable cotton production. An experiment was conducted to manage these adversities and to determine dependence of morphological attribute on physiochemical responses. Experiments were conducted at Univers...

Present investigation was conducted to study the genetic basis of seed cotton yield and fiber quality traits in cotton under normal and water deficit condition. 30F1 crosses along with 13 parents were planted under two stress levels i.e. normal and water-deficit conditions in field. The best general combiners under normal condition were FH-153, FH-...

Heat stress is a prime constraint hampering the attainment of cotton yield potential in Pakistan, while selection of genotypes for high temperature environment using morphological markers often leads to discrepancies. An experiment was conducted in order to characterize thermo-sensitivity of varying cotton genotypes using biochemical markers and to...

The incidence of Cotton Leaf Curl Disease (CLCuD) and low crop stand are major impediments to sustainable cotton production in Pakistan. Early sowing provides protection against CLCuD but causes low seed germination. Early cotton planting overlaps with wheat harvesting, thus causing conflict with Wheat-Cotton-Wheat cropping pattern. To address thes...

Genetic effects on fiber quality parameters in six basic populations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1 and BC2) of crosses viz. TARZAN-1× CIM-602 and A-555×FH-114 were investigated through GMA. The outcomes of the current study envisaged that additive and dominant alongside non-allelic interactions assumed a significant role for the attributes like fiber length...

High temperature stress is one of the main abiotic stress factors responsible for decline in cotton productivity on per unit area basis. To study the genetic basis of genotypic differences for high temperature tolerance in cotton, seven highly tolerant and five highly susceptible genotypes were sorted out from previous screened fifty genotypes on t...

Availability of sufficient genetic diversity is prerequisite for selection of economically important traits. Forty upland cotton genotypes were evaluated for genetic variability with respect to seed cotton yield attributes, fiber quality traits and protein and oil content in the seed through PCA and cluster analysis. Considerable genetic difference...

Increasing water shortage for irrigation is a major constrain to sustainable cotton production. Cotton plant observes reduction in seed cotton yield as well as fibre quality when subjected to drought conditions. Physiological as well as agronomic traits provide useful information for water-deficit tolerance. To find out genotypes having better drou...

Commercial cultivation of Bt cotton produced higher boll load which led to stiff inter-original competition for photosynthates resulting in early cessation of growth (premature senescence) due to more availability of sink and less sources. To overcome this problem field experiment was conducted during 2011 and 2012 using five treatments of plant gr...

Knowledge of genetic diversity in terms of resistance or susceptibility to cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) and the agronomic value of economically important traits are essential. This is also required before starting a breeding program to develop disease resistant varieties. Germplasm comprising of 17 conventional cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) ge...

To develop genotypes that can yield, better under water stress conditions, plant breeders must have knowledge about gene action and combining abilities of parents for various quantitative traits related to drought tolerance. The objective of the study was to provoke genetic information which may be used in cotton breeding program to enhance drought...

An experiment was conducted to elucidate the genetic governance of within boll yield components and physiological trait of cotton under control and salinity stress. Ionic concentration varied in all of the genotypes at both salinity levels, ie., higher Na+ concentration was observed in stress condition. Male, female interaction was significant in l...

We investigated the effect of various growth substances such as hydrogen peroxide, salicylic acid (SA), moringa leaf-extract (MLE) and ascorbic acid (ASA) on leaf physiology and seed cotton yield (SCY) of heat-stressed cotton. Cotton plants were exposed to elevated temperatures at three reproductive stages, either by staggering planting time in the...

Among all the environmental factors heat stress has a key role in growth and yield reduction of cotton crop (Gossypium hirsutum L.). The present study was carried out to look into the effects of foliar applied ascorbic acid on cotton crop grown under heat stress condition. Experiment was planted during 2013 and repeated during 2014 at the Agronomic...

Postharvest losses are of great concern in vegetable crops, including tomato, due to their perishable nature. Damage to tomato fruit during transportation is related to its shape besides other factors. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess genetic diversity in the available tomato germplasm (35 genotypes) for fruit morphology, biochemical c...

The experiment containing three replicates of completely randomized factorial treatments was conducted in a glasshouse under controlled conditions with three simulated soil salinity levels (control, 10 and 15 dS m⁻¹). Morpho-physiological traits (i.e. lengths, fresh weights and dry weights of root and shoot, number of leaves, root/shoot ratio, shoo...

Sustainable cotton production depends upon evolution of the crop genotypes with higher yield, improved fiber quality and better tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses. A field experiment was conducted at department of plant breeding and genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad to access genetic divergence among 23 different genotypes...

Combining ability effects were determined in a population obtained from the full diallel crossing of 6 different cotton genotypes for earliness, fiber quality and other yield-related parameters. The comparison of performance of six parents for their general combining ability showed that parent NIAB-777 was proved to be the good general combiner for...

Combining ability and heterosis for within-boll yield components and fibre quality traits were carried out using line × tester mating system in upland cotton at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.Variance due to specific combining ability was greater than general combining ability for all the traits depicting the importance of non-...

Increase in productivity and selection procedures chiefly depend upon genetic control of yield related traits, combining ability of the genotypes for concerned characters and association of these parameters among themselves and with the final yield. Single and three way crosses in cotton were analyzed for genetic behavior, combining ability, hetero...

Cotton productivity on a per-hectare basis is low in Pakistan. As boll is the basis for seed cotton yield, within-boll yield components can potentially serve as the most basic determinants of cotton productivity on a per unit land area basis. Before attempting the improvement of any trait, it is necessary to know the genetic mechanism lying behind...

Cotton plant faces several stresses during its life cycle that limit seed cotton yield and fiber production. Lack of availability of potential genotypes is one of the stress main factors that the farmer community faces. A complete diallel mating design was used to study combining ability of a set of upland cotton genotypes developed in Pakistan. Fi...

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting crop plants worldwide including cotton. QTLs were identified to assess the genetic control of relative leaf water contents, excised leaf water loss, cell membrane stability, stomatal size and frequency under drought. An F2 population was developed by an intraspecific crossing between drought to...

Development of drought tolerant cultivars requires genetic information of physiological and agronomic traits of a crop under drought stress condition. A drought tolerant (B-557) and a drought susceptible (FH-1000) cultivar of upland cotton (G. hirsutum L.) were crossed to develop F1, F2 and backcross generations (BC1 BC2). All the generations along...

Cotton leaf curling disease (CLCuD) is the major threat to cotton production and quality in many cotton producing countries including Pakistan. The objective of current work was to identify the potential genotypes which perform well under the disease prevalence through manipulating the within-boll yield traits. For this purpose; six genotypes posse...

Drought stress is a major factor limiting crop production. Genetic improvement is possible in cotton and other crops against drought stress by molecular breeding. A drought tolerant (B-557) and a drought susceptible (FH-1000) cultivar were crossed to develop F2 population. The parents and the F2 population were studied under osmotic stress in hydro...

Cotton Leaf Curl Disease is among the most devastating natural calamity that inflicted huge losses to cotton crop productivity especially in Pakistan during the last 20 years. The dilemma of CLCuD is still under discussion among the researchers since its appearance in 1967. In 1992-93, CLCuD appeared in epidemic form which caused a decline in yield...

Fifty upland cotton genotypes were canvassed by Linkage Cluster (LCA) and Principal Component (PCA) analyses to identify the major characters which account for the variation in yield contributing traits. At maturity, data on number of bolls per plant, number of seed per boll, seed cotton yield, seed index, lint index, boll size, ginning out turn, f...

Removal of early fruiting branches with optimum nitrogen dose caused more source and no sink at early growth stages leading to delay in onset and progression of senescence in Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Field trials were conducted at Students' Farm, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, during 2011 and 2012. Experiments were laid out in a r...

Field trial was conducted to investigate the effect of squares and fruiting branches removal under different levels of potassium fertilizer to measure premature senescence of Bt cotton at students’ Farm, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, during 2011 and 2012. Experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with factorial a...

An experiment was conducted to study the inheritance pattern of earliness in cotton at experimental area of Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan during 2010-11. For this purpose a 5×5 diallel mating system was employed in F2 generation of cotton to study the inheritance pattern of earliness and...

Cotton is an important cash crop worldwide, accounting for a large percentage of world agricultural exports; however, yield per acre is still poor in many countries, including Pakistan. Diallel mating system was used to identify parents for improving within-boll yield and fiber quality parameters. Combining ability analysis was employed to obtain s...

Adopting new technology always involves advantages and risks; Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a new technology well known in developed countries for its many advantages, such as reduced pesticide application, better insect pest control, and higher lint yield. However, its success in developing countries is still a question mark. Global adoptio...

In order to understand the seasonal occurrence and activity of insect pest on cotton, studies were carried out at Cotton Research Institute, AARI, Faisalabad during 2009. On June 30, 2009, maximum thrips (31±1.15/leaf), mites population (35.33±2.72/leaf) was recorded and whitefly (21.33±2.85/leaf) was recorded during the whole month of August but a...

A genetic analysis was conducted to determine the combining ability potential of six diverse Gossypium hirsutum L. genotypes and their 15 crosses for days to squaring, days to flowering, vertical flowering interval, horizontal flowering interval, days to first boll opening, boll maturity period, node number for first fruiting branch, height of firs...

Combining ability analysis was carried out for fiber quality and earliness related traits in a 5×5 diallel cross using Griffing, Method-I, Model-II. Analysis of variance components indicated that except days to first boll opening and boll maturation period all character were predominantly controlled by non- additive type of gene action. Genotype...

Fifty one genotypes of Gossypium hirsutum L. were evaluated for variation based on earliness characteristics and seed cotton yield. Seven divergent genotypes including four early and three late maturing genotypes were crossed in a full diallel mating system. Preliminary ANOVA showed significant differences for all the traits.. Additive-dominance mo...

We attempted to find the suitable parents for the development of tomato hybrids for high salt soils by exploiting combining ability, gene action and heterosis. Six salt-tolerant and three salt-intolerant genotypes, along with their 18 F1 crosses, were evaluated at seedling stage under 10 and 15 dS/m (NaCl) salinity stress, compared to the control l...

Cultivation of crops in soils with high salt (NaCl) content can affect plant development. We examined the morphological and physiological mechanisms of salt tolerance in tomato. The responses of 72 accessions of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) to salinity were compared by measuring shoot and root lengths, and fresh shoot and root weights relative to...

To determine the effect of phosphorus levels on earliness and yield of cotton, three cultivars viz., CIM-496, MNH-786 and FH-901 were grown in field with four phosphorus levels (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha-1) following a 3 x 4 factorial arrangement during the year 2008. Cultivars as well as phosphorus levels significantly affected almost all the charact...

To determine the effect of row spacing on earliness in cotton, 3 cultivars viz., NIAB-111, CIM-496 and FH-901 were grown with three row spacings of 60, 75 and 90 cm following a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement. Cultivars as well as row spacing significantly affected almost all the characters related to earliness. Among the cultivars, NIAB-111 took minim...

A study was carried out in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan during 2004. Fifty one cotton genotypes were tested for node number for first fruiting branch and days to first boll opening. The results showed significant differences for both characters. FH-901 had significantly the lowest no...

Mean squares of both general (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects were significant for the expression of days to flowering, days to squaring, earliness index and seed cotton yield, while GCA effect was non-significant for position of first sympodial branch. Reciprocal effects were significant for earliness index and seed cotton yield....

A study was conduced in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during 1999-2001. In this study combining ability of 4 x 4 diallel cross combinations was evaluated for traits like plant height, spike length, number of spikelets per spike and number of grains per spike by using Griffing's technique (1956...

Correlation for some quantitative traits relating to yield and quality were studied in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during 2002-2003. Eleven accessions of Brassica napus L. alongwith DGL as a standard variety, were studied. The results indicated that a wide range of genetic variation existed a...

A 5 x 5 diallel cross experiment was conducted to have genetic information on yield and yield components. The results of joint regression analysis indicated that data for all the characters were fit for simple additive-dominance model. Vr/Wr graph showed that overdominance type of gene action was operative for number of bolls per plants, yield of s...

Eleven accessions and a standard variety DGL of Brassica napus L. were tested in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad to estimate the genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance values. Coefficient of variability exhibited that number of primary branches per plant and oil contents were less...

These studies were conducted in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during 1999-2001. Combining ability effects were studied in a 4 x 4 diallel cross of wheat for yield and its components viz. flag leaf area, number of tillers per plant, peduncle length, 1000-grain weight and grain yield per plant. H...