Ramesh, SSHIVAKUMAR, M. S2017-08-302017-08-302016-04-10Th-11318http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810029986First and second degree statistics-based genetics of quantitative traits, choice of the testers to discriminate advanced breeding lines (ABL) for their general combining ability (gca) and the relationship of parental genetic divergence (GD) as quantified by phenotype-based gca and cross legume species/genera transferable simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker alleles with hybrid heterosis and specific combining ability (sca) in dolichos bean were investigated at the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding (GPB), University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bengaluru during 2013-2015. While first-degree statistics suggested predominance of dominance and dominance × dominance-based gene interaction effects, second degree statistics revealed predominance of genes with additive effects in the inheritance of most of the traits. The estimates of additive genetic variance (σ2 A) and dominance genetic variance (σ2 D) and hence narrow-sense heritability were biased due to epistasis but the magnitude and direction of the bias varied with the traits. The ability of Low yielding testers (LYT) was better than that of high yielding testers (HYT) to discriminate ABL for their gca. While the, FPB 20 was desirable general combiner for dry pods plant-1, the variety HA 3 was a desirable general combiner for dry seed weight plant-1. One-hundred and twenty six (45.81 %) of the 275 cross legume species/genera SSR markers were transferable to dolichos bean and the extent of transferability varied with the cross legume species/genera. Among these 126, 83.33 per cent of Medicago truncatula, 78.57 per cent of green gram, 77.77 per cent of chickpea, 53.33 per cent of soybean and 33.33 per cent of cowpea SSR markers were transferable to dolichos bean. The conditional probability that a given cross with high heterotic/sca status is derived from parents of moderate GD was higher than that derived from parents of extreme GD. The study indicated the possible limits to parental GD for the occurrence of hybrid heterosis.ennullThesis