Comparison of Two Recurrent Selection Procedures For Yield in Two Pickling Cucumber Populations

Abstract

Abstract A “gynoecious synthetic” (GS) population, developed by random mating of 50 adapted Cucumis sativus L. cultivars and breeding lines, and a “hardwickii semi-exotic” (HSE) population, developed by open-pollinating an F2 population derived from a cross between a Cucumis sativus var. hardwickii (R.) Alef. accession LJ 90430 and a gynoecious inbred line GY 14, were subjected simultaneously to S1 line (S1 and reciprocal full-sib (RFS) recurrent selection. S1 selection resulted in increased fruit number per plant in the GS and HSE populations, and in the GS × HSE population hybrid. In contrast, RFS selection did not result in increased fruit number per plant in the GS and HSE populations or their hybrid. The contrasting responses to S1 compared to RFS selection suggests that additive gene effects were more important than nonadditive effects in the expression of fruit number per plant. Correlated responses to selection resulted in increased number of days to harvest in the GS population, and in reduced percentages of gynoecious plants and pistillate flowers in the HSE population. No change in fruit firmness, and a reduction in length : diameter ratio of fruit only in the GS × HSE population hybrid developed through S1 selection, suggests that selection for increased fruit number per plant should not adversely affect these fruit quality characteristics in either the GS or HSE populations.