Genetic resources of Capsicum for tropical regions

Genetic resources of Capsicum for tropical regions

Shanhua, Tainan AVRDC Taiwan

1989

p.2-9

SB349.A85

Chili peppers were domesticated at least five times by prehistoric peoples in different parts of South and Middle America. The major species on a world scale is undoubtedly Capsicum annuum, but other domesticates remain of local importance. Genetic resources for the improvement of any given domesticated pepper include, firstly, conspecific accessions (both wild and domesticated); secondly, domesticated peppers belonging to other species and their conspecific wild relatives; and thirdly, wild species which have never been domesticated. All species can probably be intercrossed through conventional sexual methods, though manipulations such as bridging crosses, change in ploidy level and embryo rescue may be needed. Chromosomal structural changes are common between and, to a lesser extent, within species. Interspecific and some intraspecific hybrids are usually at least partially sterile and interspecific transfer of genes on those chromosomes involved in structural changes may be hampered. Collection of genetic resources of Capsicum is proceeding actively, but evaluation and classification of these resources are lagging behind our understanding of how to utilize them. As major collections are grown and evaluated for morphological and other characters, our present limited knowledge of the geographical distribution of diversity, in general, and of useful characters, in particular, should improve. Isoenzyme studies of these collections should show the extent to which domesticates are genetically depauperate compared to their wild relative and should provide information on breeding systems, organization of genetic variation, and markers useful in breeding programs. Analyses of these data will improve our understanding of how the presently how they may best be maintained. [AS]

Tomato and pepper production in the tropics

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