Gene action of economic traits in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)

V Prasad, V K Dwivedi, A A Deshpande and B K Singh

Vegetable Science 37 (1): 97-99, 2010

 Twenty eight cross combinations along with their eight parents were transplanted in randomized block design to generate information on genetic architecture of economic traits in brinjal. The significance of additive and dominance genetic variance suggested that both these gene actions were important in the expression of characters. Dominance genetic variance was greater than additive genetic variance for all traits except fruit length, fruit breadth and average fruit weight, which could be exploited through heterosis breeding, nevertheless fruit size and weight could be improved through hybridization followed by selection. The positive sign of F and more than one value of KD/ KR ratio for plant height at last picking, number of primary branches per plant, days to first fruit picking, fruit setting flowers, fruit length, fruit breadth, yield of marketable fruits per plant and average fruit weight suggested the greater scope of improvement through heterosis breeding.

Key words: Diallel, genetic component, eggplant and quantitative traits.