Agro-morphological characterization of anther derived plants in sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Boogie)

This study was conducted in sweet pepper 'Boogie' to produce the haploids and diploids via anther culture, and to characterize their plant and fruit characters. Anthers were cultured on Dumas de Vaulx medium, (C-medium) supplemented with 0.1 mg center dot L-1 kinetin and 0.1 mg center dot L-1 2, 4-D, and 3% sucrose and 0.32% phytagel. Cultures were first incubated in dark at 35A degrees C for one week and then transferred at 25A degrees C under 16 h photoperiod for 40 days. Regenerated plantlets including haploids and diploids were evaluated for their plant and fruit characters at Hwacheon in spring, 2007. Results revealed that 39.6 % callus was formed in total anthers (6100) whereas only 1.78% plants were regenerated among them. Ploidy analysis showed that 78.1% regenerants were diploids. Haploid plants were characterized by short plant height, narrow leaf size, short internode length, small flower bud size, and small fruit with low volume than diploid plants. Average fruit volume measured in diploids was 62.7% higher than haploids. Variation in plant and fruit characters was observed within the diploid population and pepper breeder could utilize such variation in breeding program. Based on this characterization and compared to original cultivar, SP94, SP117, SP148, SP171 and SP174 are found superior diploid lines and recommended them to evaluate for variety improvement in sweet pepper.