Effect of space flight mutation on eggplant and analysis of genetic diversity by ssr molecular marker

Seeds of three eggplant varieties (05 - 7, 05 - 9 and 05 - 18) were carried byShijian 8satellite for space flight treatment. The space flight mutation effects on eggplant were studied and the genetic diversity of mutant lines was analyzed using SSR markers. The results showed that space flight had obvious effects on the seed germination in eggplant SP1 generation and other characters such as plant height, plant type, leaf shape, fruit shape in the second generation. Most of the mutated characters could stably inherit in the third generation. The results also indicated that different eggplant genotypes resporded different to the space flight mutation; the long eggplant 05 - 18 was much more sensitive than other two varieties. Great variation between variant lines and their original varieties were detected by SSR markers, suggesting that space flight could induce molecular variation in eggplant. (authors)