China
November 10, 2010

Lu05H9, a new variety of red flower-marked pest-resistant hybrid cotton bred by the Cotton Center of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, recently passed the examination of the National Crop Variety Approval Committee (NCVAC). The “red flower marker” is like an “anti-fake label” for transgenic pest-resistant hybrid cotton. This new variety has broken a path for the red flower-marked breeding of cotton in China, and it has also been the first case of its kind in the world.

According to the breeder, Research Fellow Wang Liuming, Lu05H9 was developed through 20 years efforts in distant hybridization which meant transferring the HB red flower trait of wild Gossypium bickii to cultivated pest-resistant hybrid cotton. This new variety bore pink flowers. At the bottom of their pedals showed big purplish red basal spots. During the period of full blossom, the cotton field was filled with only pink flowers. Such red flowers made it easy to distinguish this transgenic hybrid cotton from ordinary cotton, which enabled farmers to tell the hybrid cotton was authentic or counterfeit and helped to regulate the market order and protect farmers’ interests.

Lu05H9 demonstrated marked advantage in yield increase compared with similar varieties in the regional experiment for new cotton varieties. In the two years’ experiment in the hybrid cotton production areas along the Yellow River, the average yield per mu (1/15 hectare) of seed cotton and lint cotton were 247.8 kg and 102.0 kg respectively, up 9.5 percent and 9.6 percent over Lumianyan No. 15, ranking first in its group of experimented varieties. The demonstration production at all localities indicated that this variety was worthy of application and extension because of its good germination, vigorous sprouts, tolerance to Fusarium wilt and Verticillium wilt, high resistance to cotton bollworm, high and steady yield, and high-quality fiber.

Website: http://www.agri.gov.cn

Published: November 19, 2010