ADVANCED GENERATIONS OF A Solanum lycopersicum × S. habrochaites CROSS AS TOMATO ROOTSTOCKS

Abstract

The development of rootstocks is an important contribution to the improvement of tomato; its use makes it possible to confer resistance characters without sacrificing the agronomic qualities of elite germplasm. In this study an agro-morphological evaluation of F₃ and F₄ families, obtained from the interspecific cross between the accessions CP-L-S6 of Solanum lycopersicum and LA1223 of S. habrochaites was carried out, in order to study their transgressive segregation to identify materials with rootstock potential. In addition, outstanding individual plants that produced seed were characterized by using SSRs. The analyses of variance and correlations identified families with vigorous roots and revealed associations between this characteristic and total soluble solids content. Materials with the highest root growth showed reduction in yield and in the fruit traits. Family 1823 presented the highest root mass and produced the least amount of seed, revealing a compensation of meristematic growth rates for less vigorous reproductive growth. Three families, 1818, 1823 and 1836 were identified with the possibility of being selected in later generations. The analysis of five of the sampled markers revealed significance between the different genotypes for five of the evaluated traits. Markers SSR65 and SSR146 showed association with stem diameter and fruit biomass.