Evaluation of General and Specific Combining Ability and Genetic Parameters for Morphological Traits in Open-Field Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran, Iran.

2 Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

Abstract

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), a globally recognized fruit, stands as a pivotal industrial crop, underpinning a vast processing industry. The genetics and inheritance knowledge about target traits are required for improving tomato hybrids. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate gene actions and the combining ability of tomato parental lines. 20 hybrids derived from diallel crossing between 5 parents and 4 commercial hybrids were evaluated. Analysis of variance revealed the presence of a significant general combining ability (GCA) effect for all traits and a significant specific combining ability (SCA) effect for fruit dry weight and fruit average weight. Despite the nuclear genome effects, maternal effects, including maternal nuclear and cytoplasmic effects, played a significant role in controlling fruit dry weight, fruit volume, fruit average weight, fruit diameter, and fruit length-to-diameter ratio traits. The maternal effect was high and significant for fruit volume (p<0.001), fruit diameter, and fruit average weight. The GCA/SCA ratio ranged from 0.65 to 1, indicating the greater effect of additive gene actions in controlling traits. P1 and P5 parents exhibited the highest GCA for fruit number average fruit weight, and fruit volume traits, respectively. Furthermore, the R1×3 hybrid was identified as the superior combiner for fruit number per plant and average fruit weight traits. Overall, additive gene action effects had a significant proportion in the inheritance of the traits, and maternal genetic effects showed a great impact on the regulation of tomato fruit size-related traits. Consequently, the female parent fruit shape and size should be considered in tomato breeding programs.

Graphical Abstract

Evaluation of General and Specific Combining Ability and Genetic Parameters for Morphological Traits in Open-Field Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Highlights

  • The selection of parents based on specific combining ability is more reliable in the production of hybrid varieties.
  • The parent of P5 and P4 has good maternal and general combining ability for some morphological traits and is suggested for use in the future breeding program.
  • Tomato performance is influenced by two quantitative traits, fruit weight and fruit number per plant, and is controlled by several genes.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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Agrotechniques in Industrial Crops
Volume 5, Issue 3
Agrotechniques in Industrial Crops (Agrotech Ind Crops) (Online ISSN: 2783-2945)
July 2025
Pages 147-154

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