Genetic Analysis of Fruit Yield and its Components in Bottle Gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.]

Background: The choice of parents to be incorporated in hybridization is a crucial step for breeders for the improvement of complex quantitative characters, such as fruit yield and its components. It requires extensive and detailed genetic assessment of existing germplasm and newly developed promising lines. The magnitude and type of gene action serves as criteria for selection of parents, which after hybridization are likely to produce the best recombinants for desirable traits. Methods: Forty five bottle gourd genotypes comprising 36 hybrids and 9 parents were evaluated in four different environments. Genetic components of variation were estimated for 12 different characters including fruit yield per plant. Result: The additive as well as dominant components were significant for fruit yield per plant and its components, revealing equal importance of both additive as well as non-additive gene effects. However, fruit yield per plant is under the control of dominance variance. Over dominance type of gene action, considerable degree of gene symmetry over all the loci, excess of dominant alleles in parents and high narrow sense heritability was found for most of the traits studied.