Division of Crop Improvement, Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, 671 124.
*Corresponding author's address: Director, IISR, Marikkunnu. P.O, Calicut; E-mail: parthasarathy@yahoo.com; parthasarathy@spices.res.in.
Esterase and peroxidase isozyme profiles in the F2 populations of D X T coconut hybrids were compared with that of the parents and F1 hybrids. The WCT parent showed greater number of bands than the dwarf COD parent for both enzyme systems. The F1s did not totally resemble either of the parents, indicating their hybrid nature. The F2 palms showed differential segregation and among the 90 F2 palms, five F2 palms showed banding pattern similar to that of tall WCT parent (5.6%), while six F2 palms were similar to the dwarf COD parent (6.6%). The rest of the palms showed a different pattern of banding than the parents, with 10% of the F1 progenies of two F1 families, showing similarities in the banding pattern to their hybrid parents (F1 HB 96 and F1 HB 136). The differential banding pattern is an indication of the segregation and recombination resulting in variability in the F2 population. This study highlights the importance of isozyme analysis for hybridity testing and studying the segregation pattern of the F2 population.
Isoenzyme, clustering, F1 hybrid, F2 population
