DNA MARKER-ASSISTED AND MORPHOLOGICAL SELECTION ON BC3 GENOTYPES SHORTCUT THE INTROGRESSION OF CMV TOLERANCE GENES ON CHILI PEPPER

Superior hybrid and CMV tolerant cultivar development requires a pair of highly hetero-beltiosis parents and both of which are CMV tolerant. Gene introgression has to be accom-plished if the tolerance does not exist in the parents. The objective of this research was to employ DNA markers and morphological traits to identify CMV tolerant individuals in BC3 that were the most similar to their recurrent parents in order to shortcut the backcrossing cycle in chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). This research used fifteen BC3 populations generated from crosses between PBC1354 and PBC378 hybrid parents and tolerant parents of C1024, C1042 and C1043. The BC3 populations were previously selected for their CMV tolerance and were characterized by RAPD technique as well as morphological traits. Selection by means of both RAPD markers and morphological traits identified BC3 individuals with 99.9% similarity to their respective recurrent parent. B3A24-20, B3A29-13, B3A29-22, B3B12-13, B3B37-9, B3B12-25, B3C16-5, B3C16-16, B3C34-18 genotypes were 99.9% similar to PBC378; meanwhile, B3D11-8, B3D11-17, B3D38-5, B3E12-17, B3E20-22, B3E31-19 were 99.9% similar to PBC1354. Those genotypes were both similar to their recurrent parents and tolerant to CMV. The employed strategy shortened CMV tolerance gene introgression through backcross breeding.