The Virescent Yellow leaf cotton line Stoneville Accession 30 (SA30, PI 528447) was crossed with four modern parental lines (DP5690, DES119, SG747 and MD51ne) to develop four sets of near isogenic lines (NILs) segregating for green and yellow leaves. Comparisons of these lines were made in the field in a two-year replicated study between the obsolete SA30 line and four modern NIL sets. Yield measurements, including hand (bolls/plant) and machine harvested (kg/plot) samples, of the four modern NIL sets compared to SA30 resulted in a twofold difference except for DP5690 yellow leaf (192%) and MD51ne yellow (167%) in the kg/plot ratios. Other yield measurements (seed cotton weight and 100 boll seed weight) reflected the "Mebane" cotton background of the SA30 line with larger bolls, whereas lint yields reflected the higher lint percentages of the modern NILs. Growth parameters including plant height and number of nodes were measured at predetermined intervals and height-to-node ratios were determined with the green leaf lines growing faster than the yellow leaf lines. The yellow leaf NILs and the SA30 line grew at the same rate. Cotton fiber quality was measured with both AFIS and HVI and both similarities and differences are reported in the paper. Even though the NILs used in this study were created to evaluate various yield measurements along with plant height and height-to-node ratios, this study also demonstrated that these lines can be used to search for the genes involved in increased partitioning to the reproductive structures.
