Resilience of cotton cultivars to chilling stress during germination

ORCID

Bheemanahalli: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9325-4901

MSU Affiliation

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Department of Plant and Soil Sciences

Creation Date

2025-11-19

Abstract

Cotton, an important commercial crop, is frequently subjected to various stresses that limit its productivity and growth. Chilling stress is one such stress that can severely impact cotton germination and establishment. Several factors, including stress level, duration of exposure, and cultivar type determine the effect of chilling stress on germination. The present study investigated how chilling stress affected germination and seedling vigor in 25 cotton cultivars. The result of the study showed a significant decline (19%) in germination percentage and time taken for germination under chilling (18 °C) compared to the control temperature (28 °C). On average, the time taken for 50% germination under chilling stress was increased by 51.5 h compared to the control. There was no significant correlation between seed size and germination ability traits. Moreover, cultivars with reduced radicle length and dry weight with a low vigor index were highly vulnerable to chilling stress. Phenotypic variations in the stress tolerance index indicated that cultivars with faster germination rates and higher seedling vigor (PHY400 and STNV4990) displayed greater resilience to chilling. Overall, this study identified variability in chilling tolerance traits and cultivars, which could be exploited in breeding to select suitable cultivars for chilling stress tolerance.

Publication Date

12-1-2023

Publication Title

Plant Physiology Reports

Publisher

Springer

First Page

521

Last Page

531

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40502-023-00746-4