Gene effect and heritability of yield and its components in eggplant

Eggplant ( Solanum melongena L.) is one of the most important fruit vegetables in the world, with several nutritional and medicinal benefits. However, little is known about the genetic divergence of yield and its related traits. The objective of this study was to explore gene action and heritability of traits to help direct and strengthen breeding programmes, geared towards improving yield of the crop. Six generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1 and BC2) derived from two crosses (SM001-07 x ST004-03 and SM001 x San005-01) of eggplant accessions, were grown in pots in an open field, using Randomised Complete block Design (RCBD). Estimated data indicated that, the additive-dominance model was adequate to demonstrate the genetic variation and its significance in the inheritance of fruit weight, days to flowering and fruit yield traits. Although non-allelic interactions were found in plant height and number of seeds, additive effect was more pronounced in the genetic control of days to flowering and fruit weight; while dominance effect was more important in the control of plant branching and fruit length. Plant height and fruit yield were influenced by complementary gene action. Furthermore, the study revealed low magnitudes of dominance and environmental variances for most traits showing higher heritability values. In view of the diverse gene actions, with additive, dominant and epistasis, playing significant roles in the control of different traits, backcross, recurrent selection or bi parental could be appropriate for advancing the segregating populations to meet the need of yield improvement in both crosses.L\u2019aubergine ( Solanum melongena L.) est l\u2019un des legumes fruits les plus importants au monde, avec les plusieurs bienfaits nutritionnels et m\ue9dicinaux. Cependant, on sait peu de choses sur la divergence g\ue9n\ue9tique du rendement et ses traits li\ue9s. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait d\u2019explorer l\u2019action des g\ue8nes et l\u2019h\ue9ritabilit\ue9 des traits pour aider \ue0 diriger et \ue0 renforcer les programmes de s\ue9lection visant \ue0 am\ue9liorer le rendement de la culture. Six g\ue9n\ue9rations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1 et BC2) d\ue9riv\ue9es de deux croisements (SM001-07 x ST004-03 et SM001 x San005-01) d\u2019accessions d\u2019aubergines ont \ue9t\ue9 cultiv\ue9es en pots dans un champ. Les donn\ue9es estim\ue9es indiquent que le mod\ue8le de dominance additive \ue9tait ad\ue9quat pour d\ue9montrer la variation g\ue9n\ue9tique et son importance dans l\u2019h\ue9r\ue9dit\ue9 du poids du fruit, des jours de floraison et des traits de rendement des fruits. Bien que des interactions non all\ue9liques aient \ue9t\ue9 trouv\ue9es dans la hauteur des plantes et le nombre de graines, l\u2019effet additif \ue9tait plus prononc\ue9 dans le contr\uf4le g\ue9n\ue9tique des jours de floraison et du poids des fruits; tandis que l\u2019effet de dominance \ue9tait plus important dans le contr\uf4le de la ramification des plantes et de la longueur des fruits. La hauteur des plantes et le rendement des fruits ont \ue9t\ue9 influenc\ue9s par l\u2019action compl\ue9mentaire des g\ue8nes. De plus, l\u2019\ue9tude a r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 de faibles variation de dominance et des variances environnementales pour la plupart des traits pr\ue9sentant des valeurs d\u2019h\ue9ritabilit\ue9 plus \ue9lev\ue9es. Compte tenu des diverses actions des g\ue8nes, avec additif, dominant et \ue9pistase, jouant un r\uf4le important dans le contr\uf4le des diff\ue9rents traits, le r\ue9trocroisement, la s\ue9lection r\ue9currente ou biparentale pourrait \ueatre appropri\ue9 pour faire progresser les populations en s\ue9gr\ue9gation afin de r\ue9pondre au besoin d\u2019am\ue9liorer le rendement dans les deux croisements