COMBINING ABILITY ANALYSIS FOR YIELD AND QUALITY TRAITS IN EXOTIC LINES OF TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.).

Estimation of general (GCA) and specific combining ability analysis (SCA) in tomato was performed through line χ tester method using eight lines, four testers and their 32 F1 hybrids. The line, CLN-138 was good general combiner for fruit weight, pericarp thickness, TSS, lycopene and titrable acidity while the line CLN-104 for fruit yield, locules per fruit, fruit shape index, TSS and titrable acidity. Significant GCA effects were for the line CLN-154 for fruit yield, fruit shape index, lycopene and titrable acidity; and tester, LBR-21 for fruit weight, dry matter and TSS. Among the crosses, the combination PVB-1 χ LBR-12 recorded good specific combiner for fruit weight, pericarp thickness and TSS; PVB-1 x LBR-10 for fruit yield, cross CLN-138 χ LBR-21 for dry matter, TSS and lycopene; and cross, PVB- 4 χ LBR-21 for fruit weight, locules per fruit and fruit shape index with significant SCA effects. The estimates of σ2SCA/σ2GCA were recorded greater than unity for all the traits except average fruit weight and ascorbic acid content which clearly indicated the predominance of non-additive gene in these characters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]