Abstract
Watermelon traits such as yield and other agronomic traits are highly environmentally sensitive and regulated by multiple genes; therefore, by understanding the genetic structure, the heritability and genetic influence of different traits can improve them. Five watermelon lines were crossed in a 5 × 5 full diallel parental design to estimate the genetic effect and heritability of fruit traits. Treatments were evaluated on the farm using a random complete block design. Analysis of the results showed a significant difference between genotypes, which was observed for all the studied traits at the probability level of 1%. Hayman's graphical method showed that the contribution of the nonadditive effects was more important than that of the additive effect to control most of the traits. Fruit maturation and pericarp thickness traits were regulated by incomplete dominance gene effects, and other traits were regulated by overdominance effects. The trait heritability varied between at least 0.013 and 0.352 for the fruit weight and fruit number, respectively. Results demonstrated that some traits can be modified based on the heterozygosity and production of hybrid variety methods, while the hybrid and selection in an advanced generation method can be suggested in watermelon breeding programs to breed other traits.
Highlights
The family Cucurbitaceae has different species, and the only cultivated species of this genus is watermelon
This study was performed on five accessions of Citrullus lanatus plants (Orzoeiyeh (P1), Hejrak (P2), Gerd (P3), Neyshabour (P4), and Yazd (P5)) from plant materials collected from different parts of Iran
The results of the Jinks-Hayman preliminary test showed no epistatic effects of genes on controlling studied traits, and diallel graphical analysis could be completely performed for them (Table 2)
Summary
The family Cucurbitaceae has different species, and the only cultivated species of this genus is watermelon Different species and varieties of watermelon are very similar at the beginning of growth but show great variation in fruit shape and other traits [4]. Breeding programs to produce a new cultivar need more information about the genetic components as well as the type of gene action of traits in order to increase yield and produce tolerant cultivars [5,6,7]. Agronomic and yield traits of watermelon are highly environmentally sensitive and regulated by multiple genes, making them quantitatively complex traits with low inheritance. By understanding the genetic structure, the heritability and genetic influence of different traits can improve yield [8]
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