Genetic analysis in bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.]

Abstract

The nature of gene action involved in the inheritance of fruit yield per plant and its components was studied in bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.] in a diallel set of 8 lines excluding reciprocals. The estimates of the components of variance indicated predominance of additive genetic effects for days to first male and female flower, node at which first male flower appeared, days to first fruit picking, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, days to last fruit picking and fruit yield per plant, indicating possibility of selection in later generations of the hybrid progenies. The dominant genetic variance was more important for node at which first female flower appeared, vine length and average fruit weight and could be exploited by developing the F₁ hybrids. Very high narrow sense heritability was observed in vine length, number of fruits per plant, fruit length and fruit yield per plant indicated that simple selection would be effective for these traits, while narrow sense heritability for days to first male and female flower indicated that recurrent selection would be fruitful for effective utilization of both type of gene actions.