STUDIES ON VARIABILITY, CORRELATION, PATH ANALYSIS AND GENETIC DIVERGENCE IN BRINJAL (Solanum melongena L.)
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Date
1996
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AAU, Anand
Abstract
Fruit yield ia the most economical trait in brinjal. However, detailed information on the quality traits of brinjal is scanty. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to estimate variability, genetical parameters like heritability, genetic advance, genotypic and phenotypic correlations, path analysis and genetic divergence. The experiment was conducted at the Plant Breeding Research Farm, Gujarat Agricultural University, Anand Campus, Anand during 1995-96. The experimental material comprised of 41 true breeding diverse genotypes. The experiment was conducted in 7 x 7 simple lattice design with four replications. Ten characters viz., fruit yield per plant, pyralid infested fruits, little leaf incidence, dry matter, anthocyanin content, polyphenol oxidase activity, total phenols, glycoalkaloid content, total soluble sugars and reducing sugars were studied. The variability study revealed that the material possessed large magnitude of variation for all the characters under investigation. High genotypic and phenotypic variances were observed for fruit yield per plant, little leaf incidence, anthocyanin content and total soluble sugars, whereas, dry matter, Polyphenol oxidase activity, total phenols and glycoalkaloid content showed low magnitude of this parameter. Very high heritability for all the characters, and high genetic advance (per cent of mean) were also observed except for dry matter. Correlation coefficient estimates at genotypic and phenotypic levels revealed that fruit yield per plant and reducing sugars were strongly and positively associated with each other and also with total soluble sugars and total phenols, while former two were negatively associated with dry matter. Pyralid infestation and little leaf incidence were strongly and negatively associated with total phenols and glycoalkaloid content and positively associated with anthocyanin content. Pyralid infestation was also strongly and positively associated with total soluble and reducing sugars. Path analysis based on genotypic correlation indicated that reducing sugars and total phenols were the main yield contribiiting characters in fruit yield of brinjal because of positive and significant associations and positive direct effects. So these characters were most important to be considered for selection in order to bring about improvement in yield. Thus, for further improvement through hybridization, it is advisable to use the parents having higher phenols as well as reducing sugars. Multivariate test for differences in genotypes showed significant differences for the eight characters under study. Genetic diversity as assessed by Mahalanobis' D2 statistic revealed the presence of great deal of genetic diversity in brinjal genotypes. Forty one genotypes were distributed in six distinct clusters. The geographical diversity was not related to the genetic diversity. The relative magnitude of inter-and intra-cluster variances with intercluster coefficient of variation for different characters indicated that the reducing sugars, polyphenol oxidase activity, glycoalkalold content and total soluble sugars played a major role in discriminating the genotypes at genetic level. Genotypes with high fruit yield per plant and high intercluster distances have been pinpointed for their utilization in crossing programme to realise the broad spectrum of variability in segregating generations to effect selection for yield improvement.
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PLANT BREEDING AND GENETICS, AGRICULTURE, A STUDY