2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), is world’s second most consumed vegetable after potato and cultivated throughout the world. The market value and culinary purposes of tomato are often determined by its appearance and morphology. Genetic characterization of such morphological and appearance traits in intra-specific population will aid in their genetic improvements without any limitation by linkage drag. Objective of this study was to identify the QTL associated with fruit shape, size and color of tomato. QTL analysis for these traits was performed in an intra-specific population of tomato developed from a cross between NC-22L-1(2008) x NC 30P consisting of 110 recombinant inbred lines (RIL). A linkage map with 886 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) molecular markers was constructed covering 739.5 cM of 12 chromosomes of tomato, with an average of 0.83 cM between markers. The total of 35 fruit morphology attributes and nine color attributes based on RGB color space (Red, Green, Blue) and CIELAB color space (L*, a*, b*), including two color descriptors (Hue and Chroma) were measured using Tomato Analyzer in two environments. Four fruit size traits (area, perimeter, maximum width, and width mid-height) were mapped to chromosome 2 with a LOD score value of 5 to 8 explaining 19% of phenotypic variance. Three color traits Average Red, Average L, and Average B were mapped to chromosome 4, 9, and 6 respectively with a LOD score value of 3 to 5 explaining 11-20% of phenotypic variance. Fruit shape traits were mapped to chromosome 10 and 12, with a LOD score value of 4 to 5 explaining 24%. phenotypic variance. This information may be useful to improve fruit morphology and color related traits in tomato in the future.