TITLE:
Inheritance of the Number of Ovules per Ovary and Selection of Cacao Genotypes
AUTHORS:
Rita de Cássia Bahia, Ronan Xavier Corrêa, Ronaldo Carvalho Santos, Regina Celle Rebouças Machado, Edna Dora Newman Luz, Ioná Santos Araújo, Dário Ahnert
KEYWORDS:
Theobroma cacao; Flower Trait; Heritability; Reproductive Biology; Genetic Improvement
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.4 No.7,
July
5,
2013
ABSTRACT: We
have characterized the number of ovules per ovary (NoOV) in cacao plants
originated from crossing the clones CCN 51 and TSH 1188 (segregating progeny)
and determined the heritability of this characteristic in order to select
plants with higher NoOV in this progeny. The NoOV was calculated as the average
of 10 flowers per plant and ranged from 44.8 to 58.6 between the six clones
(two parents and four clones belonging to their genealogy). In the progeny (n =
209 plants) the NoOV averaged 54.3 (range 44.1 to 67.8). The NoOV was
distributed uniformly among the progeny indicating that this trait is
conditioned by polygenes. Its heritability was estimated at 67.7%. The 32
plants with NoOV similar or superior to the genitor CCN 51 (highest amount among
clones) were selected for use in the genetic improvement program. We showed that this population is suitable for genetic
mapping, molecular marker identification and selection of superior cacao
genotypes.