Genetic variability studies in bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria]

Introduction

The bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol) Standl.] is a well-known member of the "Cucurbitaceae" family and is likely one of the oldest crops grown during the warm season all over the world. Its somatic chromosome number is (2n=2x=22). The Latin word lagena, which means the bottle, is whence the genus Lagenaria gets its name. In various regions of India, it is also known as calabash, white flowered gourd, zucca melon, doodhi and lauki (Deore et al., 2009) [6] . The bottle gourd is a widely produced, nutrient-dense vegetable that is part of the Cucurbitaceous family, which is the most important family economically and provides humans with palatable and nourishing fruits (Bisognin, 2002). Fruits are utilized as kofta, petha, halwa, kopoorkand, paratha, rayata, pickles (particularly on hills), and sweets. According to Desai and Musmade (1998) [7] , the fruits' various portions have several therapeutic qualities. They include vitamin C (11 mg), thiamine (0.044 mg), riboflavin (0.023 mg), niacin (0.33 mg), mineral matters (0.05%), carbs (2.9%), lipids (0.5%), protein (0.2%), and moisture (96.3%). It is a widely utilized vegetable that is easy to digest. It is also advised for convalescence, and its juice is suggested for patients with diabetes and heart disease. With the exception of calcium, zinc, cobalt, and chromium, the seeds are triangular or rectangular in shape, gray to white in color, and contain more important amino acids and micronutrients than fruits. To create high-yielding cultivars, genetic enhancement is desperately needed. The selection of certain valuable materials from the current population may benefit from the research of genetic diversity, heritability, and genetic advancement for yield and its components. The degree of genetic variability found in crop species is important because it gives the fundamental information for efficient selection. Heritability is the ratio of the total variation, or phenotypic variance, to the genetic variance in the population. However, by applying a certain level of selection intensity, the genetic advance forecasts the amount of gain anticipated. Therefore, knowledge of these criteria is crucial for choosing the approach to be used. Individuals are chosen based on their phenotype in order to develop their traits in a desired way. The genetic advance, which is a measure of this anticipated improvement, is dependent on genetic variability, the extent of environmental influence, the interplay of genetic diversity and variability components, and the level of selection. The phenotypic heterogeneity across various plants or females in the base population, the heritability of the selected trait, and the selection intensity all influence genetic advancement under selection.

Materials and Methods

Eleven different bottle gourd genotypes were evaluated in an experiment conducted during the kharif of 2024 at the Experimental Department of Horticulture, Naini agricultural Institute (NAI), Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj. Two replications and a Randomized Block Design (RBD) were used to set up the experiment. Five randomly chosen plants of each genotype were observed for fifteen characters in each replication: vine length (cm), number of branches per plant, node at which first female flower appears, number of days needed for first female flower appearance, number of male flowers, number of fruit per vine, number of days needed for first harvest, fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (cm), fruit weight (gm), fruit yield per vine (kg), fruit yield per plot (kg), fruit yield per hectare (q), and T.S.S (%).The generated data was averaged and then submitted to variability analysis. Coefficients of variation for genotype and phenotype were calculated using the equations proposed by Burton [3] and DeVane (1953) [4] . PCV and GCV levels were classified by Sivasubranian and Menon (1973) [19] as low (0-10%), moderate (10.1-20%), and high (>20). Heritability in broad sense was calculated by the formula as suggested by Allard (1960) [1] . Heritability was classified as suggested Robinson et al., (1949) [15] into low (0-30%), moderate (30.1-60%) and high (>60%). The Genetic advance (GA) resulting from selection of five per cent superior individuals was worked out as suggested by Allard (1960) [1] . The GAM% was categorized into low (0-10%), moderate (10.1-20%) and high (>20%) as suggested by Johnson et al. (1955) [9] .

Results and Discussion

The analysis of variance indicated significance higher amount of variability among the genotype for fifteen character studies viz., vine length, number of branches per plant, node at which first female flower appear, days required first female appear, number of male flower, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight, fruit yield per vine, fruit yield per plant and fruit yield per hectare are given in Table 1. Similar findings reported by Singh et al., (2015) [18] in bitter gourd, Thakur et al., (2015) [21] , Damor et al., (2016) [4] , Detaba et al., (2017) [5] in pointed gourd, Rambhau et al., (2017) [13] and Thakur et al.,(2017) [22] . The phenotypic coefficient of Wide range of variability was observed for the majority of traits under study. Germination% showed a mean value of 792.44 with a range of (80.66 -99.33), respectively. Days to appearance of 1 st male flower and days to appearance of 1 st female flower exhibited a range of ( [22] and Kumar (2011) [9] , Sharma and Sengupta (2013) [16] , Mandal et al., (2015) [11] and Kumar et al., (2018) [9] . The genotypic coefficient variation ranged were categorized as low (0-10%), moderate (10-20%) and high (more than 20%) as suggested by Sivasubramanian [19] and Madhavamenon (1973) [22] and Kumar (2011) [9] , Sharma and Sengupta (2013) [16] , Kumar et al., (2014) [9] in Cucumber, Mandal et al., (2015) [11] and Kumar et al., (2018) [9] . Heritability in broad sense was found to be high for all traits (greater than 60 per cent). Highest genetic gain (genetic advance as percentage of mean) was recorded in Fruit diameter (mm) (99.97) followed by Weight of individual fruit (g) (99.31), Yield/ha (t) (97.29), Day to first appearance of male flower (97.17) and fruit length (cm) (94.17). While as lowest genetic gain (genetic advance as percentage of mean) was recorded for Juice (pH) (1.14).

Table 2. High heritability indicated that, through the character is least influenced by the environment effect. The selection for improvement of such character may not be useful because broad sense heritability is based on total variance. The result is in confirmation with finding of Yadav [22] and Kuma ] (2011) [9] , Sharma and Sengupta (2013) [16] , Kumar et al.,(2014) [9] in Cucumber, Singh et al.,(2014) [17] , Mandal et al.,(2015) [11] , Rambabu et al.,(2017) [13] and Kumar et al.,(2018) [9] . The genetic advance were Fruit diameter (mm) (172.01), Yield/ha (t) (47.74), Fruit length (cm) (32.17), Day to first appearance of male flower (31.65), Fruit yield/plant (kg) (27.72), Weight of individual fruit (g) (27.03), TSS (°BRIX) (26.41) and Days to first appearance of female flower (24.25). This indicated that, genetic advance is high it shows that character is governed by additive genes and selection will be rewarding for improvement such traits. Similar finding reported by Yadav [22] and Kumar [9] (2011), Sharma and Sengupta (2013) [16] , Kumar et al., (2014) [9] in Cucumber, Sing et al., (2014) [18] , Manada et al., (2015) [11] , Rambabu et al., (2017) [13] and Kumar et al., (2018) [9] .

Conclusion

The study found that phenotypic coefficients of variation were slightly higher than genotypic coefficients of variation for all traits. High heritability and genetic gain were observed in traits such as number of male flowers, vine length, number of primary branches, and number of fruits, fruit weight, f length, diameter, fruit yield, and fruit yield ha-1.

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