Towards a new strategy to breed an autogamous plant: A case of study in Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum

Abstract

New varieties of autogamous plant have been developed over the decades using different classical breeding methods, including pedigree. Our goal was to associated pedigree with mixed model analysis to select plants with superior agronomic performance in Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum, an autogamous species that has been underexploited by plant breeders. An F2 population was developed from biparental crosses (UENF 1616×UENF 1732) and 45 F2 individuals were selected using Mulamba and Mock Index considering dry fruit mass, fruit length, fruit wall thickness and soluble solid content. Lines F2:3 along with parents and a standard genotype were tested in field conditions and eight agronomic traits were evaluated. Considering genetic parameters estimation by mixed models, the heritability estimate of the progeny mean was high magnitude ranging from 0.68 to 0.88 while the narrow sense heritability ranged from 0.23 to 0.46 and the additive heritability within the plot reached magnitude between 0.15 and 0.43 for most characteristics, with an accuracy of selection close to unity indicating high accuracy in selection for all traits. Twenty lines with superior performance for each trait were selected considering the values for predict genetic additive effect ranking along with the new mean of improved population. Comparing the 20 selected lines with parents and standard genotype it was possible to observe that lines were superior for eleven out of the thirteen agronomic traits evaluated. The association of the classical pedigree method with more accurate statistical procedure can be useful to assist breeders in autogamous breeding program.