Genetic Diversity in Brinjal and its Utilization in Crop Improvement

Brinjal is botanically known as Solanum melongena and is commonly known by different names like,aubergine, baingan, etc. It is grown widely throughout tropical and temperate regions of the world.Brinjal production varies according to the country and continent. Limited genetic diversity also limitsthe potential of crop breeding efforts, especially in the face of environmental change. Crop improvementhas always relied on genetic diversity; it is due to selection done by the farmers over the years, that mostof the biodiversity has been conserved. In any diversity study, the key is the presence of diversity in thatparticular species whether in the form of crop wild relative or collection of germplasms. There was a need to characterize the brinjal populations collected so that they could then be used as lines for thedevelopment of new varieties. Evaluation of genetic diversity is important to identify the source of genesfor a particular trait within the available germplasm.