Assessment of Genetic Purity of Chilli Hybrids Using Molecular Markers

Genetic purity is an important criterion for quality assurance for hybrid seed production. Grow out test (GOT) based on morphological traits is the practice usually used to confirm hybrid purity. Identification of morphological differences is time consuming, laborious, costly and highly influenced by the environment. Simple sequence repeats are capable of distinguishing parents and F1 hybrids. In this study the purity of two locally developed chilli hybrids namely; MICH HY1 and MICH HY2 were tested with their parents, inbred line MI Waraniya 1, inbred line Galkiriyagama selection and inbred line MI 1. Seven SSR markers were used to survey parental polymorphism of the hybrids MICH HY 1 and MICH HY 2 separately. Out of these SSR markers, three markers, designated as CAM5647F/ CAM5647R, JS223/JS224, JS 217/JS 218 were found to be effective in determining the genetic purity percentages of two chilli hybrids; MICH HY 1 and MICH HY2. Chilli hybrid MICH HY1 showed a hybridization percentage of 96.15% and MICH HY 2 94.0%. These findings are more reliable and can be used to substitute for grow out test. These findings can be used for seed certification of chilli hybrids MICH HY 1 and MICH HY 2. Further, these findings will help breeders and growers to identify non hybrid type mixtures in chilli hybrid seed lots of MICH HY1 and MICH HY2.