Stability of fruit set of newly selected parthenocarpic eggplant lines

In the autumn-winter greenhouse test, all tested AE-P progeny showed higher total fruit set (including malformed fruit) than the 'Talina2/1' line (a parthenocarpic double-haploid line of 'Talina'), and higher production of normal fruit than the Japanese cultivar 'Senryo Nigou'. Fruit set (normal fruit) was 100% in lines 'AE-P03' and 'AE-P10', and we selected 'AE-P03' for further study. Under other cultivation conditions, the fruit set of 'AE-P03' was at least as high as that of the Japanese lines, and 'AE-P03' also had a higher rate of normal fruit production in early-summer tests under various conditions and in a winter test in a growth chamber. An emasculation study indicated that the high fruit set of the Japanese eggplant lines contributed to the improved fruit set of 'AE-P03'. Thus, the combination of two genetic traits (the high fruit set of the Japanese cultivar and the parthenocarpy of 'Talina2/1') appears to be necessary for breeding eggplant cultivars with improved ability to endure the stress imposed by unsuitable cultural conditions such as hot condition.