Drought tolerance in F₁ interspecific hybrid between, <i>Solanum melongena</i> and its wild ancestor, <i>Solanum insanum</i>

Abstract

The need for improved aubergine varieties is increasing because of climate change’s effects such as drought. To solve this problem, the use of wild ancestor of aubergine, Solanum insanum, as a source of genes seems appropriate since this species is found in various climates. The objective was to obtain aubergine genotypes with genes from the wild species, S. insanum, giving them the ability to adapt to drought. Drought tolerance of accessions from Solanum melongena and Solanum insanum and their F₁ progeny was assessed using 16 phenotypic descriptors. Variance and genetic parameters (heritability (h²), genotypic (GCV) and phenotypic (PCV) coefficients of variation, correlations) relating to growth dynamics were estimated. F₁ hybrids exhibited better drought tolerance abilities than parental accessions. The values of floral characteristics of these hybrids were higher in dry season. This favoured reproduction at expense of vegetative growth. Finally, high differences between GCV and PCV corroborated by low values of h² show that plant selection based on growth dynamics would be ineffective for improving aubergine against drought. Development of plant organs determined by genes with pleiotropic effects is reflected by contrasting values of genotypic and phenotypic correlations.