Wild and Cultivated Species of Cotton

Abstract

The genus Gossypium which belongs to the family Malvaceae and tribe Gossypieae, includes about 50 species, out of which four species are cultivated for their spinnable fibre. The remaining 46 species are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics of the world in wild forms (Table-1). The wild species of Gossypium are important sources of useful traits such as special of Gossypium are important sources of useful traits such as special and superior fibre properties, cytoplasmic male sterility, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses etc. which can be introgressed into the cultivated species for improvement (Table-2). Since the variability available in cultivated germplasm is limited and has been exhaustively utilized in breeding programmes, it has become a necessity to develop basic germplasm materials enriched with rare useful genes from wild species through introgression.Not Available