Transgressive segregation for fruit quality traits in a cross between exotic and mutant genotypes of lycopersicon

Abstract

A cross between a Lycopersicon esculentum accession carrying the mutant nor and an accession of L. esculentum var. cerasiforme was made to analyse the joint genetic effect upon the phenotypic segregation of some fruit quality traits in the F2 generation. Fruit from the F1, F2, and the parents (as testers) were evaluated for shelf life and another quality traits. Because of the presence of individuals falling beyond their parental phenotypes in the F2, a transgressive inheritance was estimated by a chi-square test. Transgressive inheritance was present for relevant traits such as shape, colour, firmness, and shelf life. The broad sense heritability values were highly significant for all traits and the shelf life was not associated with any other fruit quality trait. The use of this wild accession as a parent in tomato breeding programmes becomes an alternative for increasing fruit quality and especially prolonging the fruit shelf life. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.