Resistance to Phytophthora capsici, Restorer-offertility Genotype for Cytoplasmic Male Sterility and Chemical Quality Components of Breeding Lines Developed for Improvement of Subicho, a Land Race of Pepper in Yeongyang

Abstract

Over the last 25 years, a breeding line of pepper (Capsicum spp.) PVR Subi has been bred by the introduction of the Phytophthora capsici resistance found in pepper line PI201234 and the field resistance to viruses found in pepper accession KC00406 into a small-fruited, earlymaturing, and good-tasting land race, Subicho, in Yeongyang. In 2009, PVR Subi was crossed with a new version of Subi (New Subi) and an accession, KC01522, with mild and good dry fruit quality. This was done to meet growers’ demands for larger-fruited, open-pollinated local cultivars adapted to conditions in the Subi area of Yeongyang. Twenty-nine F5 and 37 F6 lines that developed from the two crosses were evaluated for resistance to P. capsici by pathogen inoculation at the seedling stage. Selected lines were grown to record horticultural characters in F5 and to analyze chemical quality components such as capsaicinoids, sugar and color in F6. Most of the breeding lines carried pathogen resistance comparable with the commercial resistant hybrid control cultivar, ‘Baerota’, and many lines were found to contain higher capsaicinoid and sugar levels, as well as ASTA color value, than the commercial control. All the breeding lines were identified as restorer-of-fertility lines with N(S)RfRf genotype, producing stable male fertile F1 plants in crosses with a cytoplasmic male sterile line (CMS). These breeding lines are promising as basic materials for selection of open-pollinated cultivars adapted to grow in Yeongyang, and as pollen parents for a hybrid seed production system using cytoplasmic male sterility.