Female Fertility of Haploid Peppers

Abstract

The fertility of 53 haploids of Capsicum annuum L. was determined. The haploids, derived from twin seedlings, were highly male-sterile but all produced seeds following crosses with pollen from diploids. The numbers of seeds per fruit varied from none to eight. Irregular distribution of the seeds, together with male-sterility, disclosed that spontaneous diploid branches did not develop in the haploids. The origin of the seeds is attributed to the sporadic failure of function of one division during meiosis. As a result of atypical meiosis in haploids, deviations in chromosome number and structure have been reported in the offspring of haploids of other species. An average of one seed per hand-pollinated haploid fruit of pepper was obtained. This degree of female fertility should permit the accumulation of useful cytogenetic variants in this species.