Crop wild relatives (CWRs) have barely been used in eggplant (Solanum melongena) breeding. However, introgression breeding may help in coping with the challenges posed by climate change. During the rainy and dry seasons, we evaluated nine accessions of eggplant, nine accessions of seven related species (of which six are CWRs and one is a cultivated relative), and 12 interspecific hybrids. Drought tolerance scores, calculated as ratios of growing rates and ratios of mean values during the rainy and dry seasons, were obtained for vegetative growth and yield‐related traits. Considering the vegetative growth and yield‐related traits evaluated, the F₁ hybrid progenies of eggplant with S. insanum MEL1 × INS2 and MEL4 × INS3, S. anguivi MEL6 × ANG1, and S. dasyphyllum MEL6 × DAS1, plus the S. sysimbriifolium accession SIS1, displayed drought tolerance. Small to large gaps were observed between phenotypic and genotypic CVs of drought tolerance scores, reflecting variable influence of environmental factors on drought tolerance of the traits evaluated. In addition, the narrow‐sense heritability was generally moderate, indicating that genes with dominance and/or epistasis effects may be involved in the expression of drought tolerance. High genotypic correlations for drought tolerance scores between pairs of traits such as branching index and leaf length, leaf petiole diameter and plant height, number of stamens per flower, and fruit pedicel length suggest that drought tolerance of these traits is controlled by genes that are in linkage disequilibrium and/or have pleiotropic effects. The results are relevant for the development of drought‐tolerant cultivars of eggplant.

中文翻译：

---

茄子，野生近缘种和种间杂种农艺性状的耐旱遗传参数

作物野生亲缘种（CWR）几乎没有用于茄子（Solanum melongena）育种。但是，渗入育种可能有助于应对气候变化带来的挑战。在雨季和干旱季节，我们评估了9个茄子种，7个相关物种的9个种（其中6个为CWR，一个为栽培近缘种）和12个种间杂种。获得营养生长和与产量相关的性状的耐旱性分数，计算方法为生长率与雨季和旱季的平均值之比。考虑到所评估的营养生长和与产量相关的性状，茄子的F ₁杂种后代为S. insanum MEL1×INS2和MEL4×INS3，S。anguiviMEL6×ANG1，和S. dasyphyllum MEL6×DAS1，再加上S. sysimbriifoliumSIS1，表现出耐旱性。在抗旱性得分的表型和基因型CV之间观察到小到大的差距，反映出环境因素对所评估性状的抗旱性的影响各不相同。此外，狭义的遗传力一般是中等的，这表明具有优势和/或上位效应的基因可能参与了耐旱性的表达。与分枝指数和叶片长度，叶片叶柄直径和植物高度，每朵花的雄蕊数量以及果实的花梗长度等性状对之间的耐旱性得分之间存在高度的基因型相关性，表明这些性状的耐旱性是由连锁不平衡和/或具有多效作用。