Inheritance of fruit colour in normal and irradiated progenies of brinjal

The inheritance of fruit colour in brinjal (Solanum melongena) was studied by analysing the progeny belonging to the F1M2, F1M1 and F2M2 generations resulting from a cross between varieties insanum and purple giant followed by gamma irradiation. The F2 phenotypic frequencies fitted very well with the dihybrid ratio indicating that the fruit colour is governed by two independently inherited genes. Three colour mutants, namely, purple, mottled green and white were induced in the F1M1 generation by the irradiation. The appearance of these mutants is explained as due to independent mutations at either or both of the two goenetic loci. The colour pattern in the F2M2 progenies derived from the F1M1 mutants substantiates the two gene mechanism for the inheritance of fruit colour. The genotypes for the different colour types in the F1, F2 and F1M1 mutants have been indicated and discussed. (author)