Generation mean analysis of yield related traits and inheritance of fruit colour and surface in bitter gourd

Analysis of generation means in P-1, P-2, F-1, F-2, B-1 and B-2 generations of bitter gourd cv. Pusa Do Mausami x DBG 43 was performed to determine the nature of gene action governing yield traits. Significant differences among parents and generations were observed for all traits, and the two parental lines differed significantly for fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit number and average weight per fruit. All the traits studied showed non allelic gene interaction indicating presence of epistatis gene action. Nature of gene action varied with the character and both additive and non-additive gene action was involved in expression of the characters having the duplicate type of epistasis. The traits were predominantly governed by dominance and dominance X dominance interaction effects and favors heterosis breeding for improvement. Chi-square tests was applied in the segregating generations of crosses Sel-1 X Pusa Do Mausami and Sel-1 X Pusa Vishesh revealed that green fruit colour of bitter gourd was governed by a single pair of nuclear genes and green colour is dominant over white fruit colour. The inheritance of ridgeness in cross Sel-1 x Pusa Vishesh indicated that the fruit surface (discontinuous ridge) of bitter gourd was governed by a single dominant gene.