Interspecific hybrids of eggplants (Salanum species) are of prime concern to breeders, as they allow introgression of useful genes from wild species to cultivated ones. However, successful hybridization between species is usually very low. This hampers development of improved hybrids. In-vitro culture techniques may be used to overcome interspecific barriers. Seeds and excised embryos obtained from two crosses (Solanum (S.) melongena × S. torvum and S. melongena × S. anguivi) were inoculated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with varying concentrations of 3-indoleacetic acid (IAA) and 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). Addition of hormones in the culture medium significantly (P < 0.05) improved root and shoot emergence, seed germination and seedling survival. However, excised embryos cultured on the same medium did not develop. Hybrid seeds cultured on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of IAA and BAP germinated within 6-14 days (SM001-07 × ST004-03) and 4-10 days (SM001-07 × San005-01). Optimal concentration of IAA and BAP for seed germination and seedling survival depended on hybrid type. Regenerated plantlets were successfully transferred to the field after initial acclimatization. High levels of heterosis observed for number of seeds/fruit and fruit breadth suggested an opportunity for developing F₁ hybrids with desirable fruit characters for improved fruit yield.

An experiment was conducted to evaluate genetic variation among twenty-one fluted pumpkin genotypes for seedling traits. The seeds of the fluted pumpkin were germinated in nursery bags filled with saw dust at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria between July and August, 2013. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design with three replications. Characters evaluated were emergence percentage (E%), emergence index, emergence index rate, vine length (cm), leaf area (cm²), number of leaves, shoot dry weight (g), and seedling vigour index (SVI). Significant (P≤0.05) differences were observed among the fluted pumpkin genotypes for the evaluated characters. High E% was observed for genotypes Ftn45 (94.80%), Ftn43 (93.30%), Ftn57 (93.30%), Fte41 (90.0%), Ftn61 (86.70%), and Ftm11 (83.30%). Also, these genotypes had above average values for SVI. High phenotypic coefficients of variation and genotypic coefficients of variation were observed for leaf area (75.44%) and dry shoot weight (55.85%), respectively while heritability estimates above 50% was observed for leaf area (82.0%), dry weight (77.78%), E% (70.84%), and SVI (51.98%). The genetic advance was high for E% (38.37), SVI (38.09), and leaf area. SVI, E%, vine length, and leaf area had significant positive correlation with most of the traits therefore, they can be used as selection criteria in fluted pumpkin. Therefore, genetic improvement of early seedling can be used for selection programme in fluted pumpkin.

Citations

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