GENETIC DIVERSITY IN PARTHENOCARPIC VARIETIES OF PUMPKIN (Cucurbita pepo L.) BY RAPD

Abstract

Parthenocarpy is the ability of the ovary to develop without the need for the stimulation of pollination so that the fruit forms and grows normally until physiological or commercial maturity. In this study, 46 parthenocarpic varieties of squash (Cucubita pepo L.) type round zucchini obtained at the Autonomous University of Chapingo were analyzed, the objective was to identify the diversity and genetic variability existing between the varieties and obtain the corresponding genetic fingerprints. Molecular markers type RAPD (random amplification of polymorphic DNA) were used, in which 14 primers of the Operon series A were tested, of which five were selected associated to a total of 44 loci. 84.1% of the loci were polymorphic, among the parthenocarpic varieties, this indicated few genetic variability. The dendrogram of genetic similarity yielded five groupings, the genetic distance was very close to one, with a range of 0.6573 and 0.9770, indicating that they are highly genetically related varieties; this genetic variation between loci was expressed with 95.45% of the polymorphism. The genotypes studied provide a valuable source of parthenocarpy base for the genetic improvement of zucchini for vegetables that do not require stimulation of pollination to develop, suitable for production under cover.