Observations on interspecific compatibility and meiotic chromosome behavior of Capsicum buforum and C. lanceolatum

Abstract

The wild species, Capsicum buforum Hunz. and C. lanceolatum(Greenm. ex J.D. Sm.) Morton and Standl. were hybridized to nine different Capsicum species to understand their taxonomic and genetic relationships. With C. buforum as the male parent, the compatibility to the nine species varied from species to species and ranged from producing under-developed embryo, seed coat, seedless fruit, to no fruit set. When C. buforum was the female parent, it was incompatible (no fruit set) to the nine Capsicum species tested. When C. lanceolatum was the female parent, the hybridizations to the other species ranged from aborted embryo, seed coat, seedless fruit or no fruit. As a pollen parent, C. lanceolatum was incompatible (no fruit set) to the species investigated. In pollen mother cells (PMCs) of C. buforum, 24 chromosomes (n = 12) paired as 12 bivalents with chromosome lagging at meiotic anaphase-I. Twenty-six chromosomes (n = 13) were detected in PMCs of C. lanceolatum. In C. lanceolatum most chromosomes paired as bivalents, but one quadrivalent was observed in some cells. C. buforum was found to be self-incompatible, while C. lanceolatum was self-compatible.