Inheritance of response to cotton leaf crumple virus infection in cotton

The inheritance of symptom development and symptom severity to the cotton leaf crumple virus (CLCV) in upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutumL, was investigated. Deltapine 90, which exhibits a severe reaction to CLCV infection, was crossed to Cedix, an asymptomaticcultivar originally from El Salvador. Parents, F₁, F₂, and backcross populations were exposed, as seedlings, to viruliferous whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.), the insect vector of the virus, and scored routinely throughout the field season for presence and severity of cotton leaf crumple symptoms. Results indicated that factors controlling symptom expression were inherited as duplicate factors, and that the severe-symptom phenotype (genotype C₁C₁C₂C₂) was recessive to the asymptomatic phenotype (genotypes C₁_C₂_). This report is the first documented report of the inheritance of a viral disease in cotton.