Combining ability and gene action analysis of some bacterial wilt resistant intraspecifc hybrids of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum var grossum)

Genetically diverse bell pepper cultivars and their 30 F₁ hybrids were developed by means of diallel mating system including reciprocals. Variance analysis illustrated considerable disparity among newly developed bacterial wilt resistant hybrid lines for all the studied traits. General Combining ability (gca) effects were more pronounced than specifc combining ability effects (sca). The gca effects were high with parents DPBWRC-6-1, EC-464107, EC-464115 and DPBWRC-39 for fruit yield and yield-enhancing traits. Further, reciprocal effects infuenced all parameters except fruit width, TSS and lobes per fruit. Among the additive and non-additive genetic variance, the latter had a more signifcant infuence on the inheritance of all studied characters except for fruit width and pericarp thickness. Based on sca analysis, three cross-combinations viz., DPBWRC-29×EC-464107, DPBWRC-39× DPBWRC-1 and EC-464115 × DPBWRC-29 were found to be good specifc combiners for the majority of traits and can further be utilized to isolate superior segregates or released as hybrids.