Fig. 1

Phenotypic analyses of the first fruiting branch in wild-type and cl-type G. hirsutum and G. barbadense. a, e Phenotypes of the first fruit branch between reference and cl plants in G. hirsutum and G. barbadense. Scale bar, 10 cm. b, f Length of the first fruiting branch from stem to SAM. (c, g) Number of leaves on the first fruiting branch, including fully expanded young leaves. d, h Number of bolls and flower buds on the first fruiting branch. All data are means ± SD from 2012 to 2016 (n = 10 plants); * and ** represent significant differences determined by the Student’s t-test at P < 0.05 and P < 0.01