Abstract
Wild relatives of eggplants represent a good source of variation for breeding programmes, in particular for traits related to biotic and abiotic stresses and also fruit quality traits. However, wild species remain largely unexploited for eggplant breeding compared to other crops like tomato. Seven cultivated eggplant accessions (SM001-02, SM001-04, SM001-06, SM001-07, SA002-02, SA002-03 and SMA003-03) were crossed with three wild accessions (ST004-03 (Solanum tovum), San005-01 (Solanum anguivi) and SA002-08 (Solanum aethiopicum)) in an open field using completely randomized design. The success of fruit and seed set as well as seed germination depended on the cross combination and the direction of the cross. In this regard, no fruit set was recorded when the wild accessions were used as female parents. The highest fruit set and mean number of seeds/fruit was obtained from the crosses Sm001-07 × ST004-03 (6%; 264 seeds) and Sm001-07 × San005-01 (5.7%, 114 seeds), respectively. The germination of hybrid seeds was recorded in only three crosses, SM001-07 × ST004-03, SM001-07 × San005-01 and SA002-02 × San005-01 with germination range from 3.3 to 16.6%. However, plantlets from these seeds did not survive after two weeks of germination. The hybridity of the putative interspecific F1 hybrids (through tissue culture) was confirmed with a morphological marker. These hybrids obtained will contribute to broadening the genetic background of cultivated eggplant species used in this study and to the genetic enhancement of this crop. Key words: Crossability, eggplant, fruit set, germination, introgression, seed set, wild relatives.
Highlights
Cultivated eggplants (Solanum species) are popular vegetable crop worldwide especially in Africa and Ghana, where their leaves and fruit are consumed almost on daily basis (Daunay et al, 2001)
All parts of the plant are useful to the populace; the fruits and leaves are used in cooking vegetable soup and stews and have been reported to be good source of dietary fibre, vitamins and provides substantial quantities of minerals especially phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium
Studies by Nagoaka et al (2001), Shamin et al (2004), Aliero (2007), and Chinedu et al (2011) revealed the presence of high levels of steroidal glycoalkaloids, tannins sesquiterpniods and other essential bioactive compounds that act as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive and antimicrobial in the treatment and/or prevention of these diseases (Plazas et al, 2016). In spite of these advantages, the genetic diversity of cultivated eggplants is narrow compared to their wild relatives such as Solanum insanum, Solanum anguivi and Solanum dasyphyllum for cultivated Solanum melongena, Solanum aethiopicum and Solanum macrocarpon, respectively (Furini and Wunder, 2004; Vorontsova et al, 2013)
Summary
Cultivated eggplants (Solanum species) are popular vegetable crop worldwide especially in Africa and Ghana, where their leaves and fruit are consumed almost on daily basis (Daunay et al, 2001). Studies by Nagoaka et al (2001), Shamin et al (2004), Aliero (2007), and Chinedu et al (2011) revealed the presence of high levels of steroidal glycoalkaloids, tannins sesquiterpniods and other essential bioactive compounds that act as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive and antimicrobial in the treatment and/or prevention of these diseases (Plazas et al, 2016) In spite of these advantages, the genetic diversity of cultivated eggplants is narrow compared to their wild relatives such as Solanum insanum, Solanum anguivi and Solanum dasyphyllum for cultivated Solanum melongena, Solanum aethiopicum and Solanum macrocarpon, respectively (Furini and Wunder, 2004; Vorontsova et al, 2013). To broaden the genetic base of cultivated eggplant species, there is a need to crossbreed them with their wild relatives
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