Abstract
Selection and breeding of eggplant (Solanum melongena) materials with good performance under low nitrogen (N) fertilization inputs is a major breeding objective to reduce environmental degradation, risks for human health, and production costs. Solanum elaeagnifolium, an eggplant wild relative, is a potential source of variation for introgression breeding in eggplant. We evaluated 24 plant, fruit, and composition traits in a set of genotyped advanced backcrosses (BC2 and BC3) of eggplant with S. elaeagnifolium introgressions under low N conditions. Significant differences were found between the two parents for most traits, and a wide phenotypic diversity was observed in the advanced backcrosses, with some individuals with a much higher yield, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and phenolics content than the S. melongena parent. In general, the lower the proportion of S. elaeagnifolium genome introgressed in the advanced backcrosses, the higher was the general phenotypic resemblance to S. melongena. Putative QTLs were detected for stem diameter (pd4), presence of prickles in stem (ps6), leaf (pl6) and fruit calyx (pc6), fruit width (fw7), chlorogenic acid content (cg5), total phenolic acid peaks area (ph6), chlorogenic acid peak area (ca1), and phenolic acids pattern (cp1). Our results reveal that introgression breeding of eggplant with S. elaeagnifolium has a great interest for eggplant breeding, particularly for adaptation to low N conditions. These materials can potentially contribute to the development of improved eggplant varieties for a more sustainable agriculture.
Highlights
The use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers is widespread in agriculture, as N has a fundamental role in increasing plant growth and crop yields and is frequently a limiting factor in soils [1]
Our results reveal that introgression breeding of eggplant with S. elaeagnifolium has a great interest for eggplant breeding, for adaptation to low N conditions
We found that the eggplant wild relative S. elaeagnifolium displayed higher total phenolics content (TPC) as well as a different and more diverse phenolic acid chromatogram pattern (TP-Pattern)
Summary
The use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers is widespread in agriculture, as N has a fundamental role in increasing plant growth and crop yields and is frequently a limiting factor in soils [1]. In the past six decades, intensive and generalized use of N fertilizers has resulted in an increase of global food production and a reduction of world hunger. A continued N over fertilization has a negative impact on the environment, including surface and groundwater contamination and eutrophication of freshwater and estuarine ecosystems [2,3]. Reducing N fertilization and increasing the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of crops is one of the main objectives to decrease environmental degradation while increasing crop productivity [2,4,5]. Developing new varieties able to grow and give high yields under low N conditions can extend the range of cultivation conditions suitable for a crop
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