Faten alsafadi*⁽¹⁾, Hesham Alatwani⁽¹⁾, Abdel Mohsen Marie⁽²⁾ and Ramzi Murshid⁽³⁾  

(1). Sweida Research Centre -General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Syria.

 (2). Administration of Horticulture Research, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.

(3). Department of Horticulture Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Damascus, Damascus, Syria.

(*Corresponding Author:Dr. Faten alsafadi, E.mail:  .f.alsafadi@gmail.com.)

Received: 19/01/2021                                 Accepted: 25/03/2021

Abstract:

This study was conducted at GCSAR-Swaida research center (Hout station) during the season 2018-2019, to evaluate six melon inbred lines P1(104)، P2(106)، P3(108)، P4(113)، P5(116) and P6 (118) and their 30 F₁ hybrids produced by complete diallel mating design, using RCBD with four replications. for estimate the general combining ability (GCA) effects for each parents, and the specific combining ability (SCA) for hybrids and their reciprocal, in addition to evaluate the broad and narrow sense heritability for some fruit quality traits of melon (fruit pulp thickness, dry matter, total soluble solids, total sugar, monosaccharaides, disaccharides, carotenoids, vitamin C).  The variance of GCA and SCA were significant for all studied traits, indicating the importance of additive and non-additive effects in the inheritance of these traits. The parent P5(116) showed positively significant and desirable general combining ability effects for the traits of carotenoids and sweetness of the fruits, and the parent P4(113) for the traits of the total sugars and disaccharides. The hybrids P1×P6, P2×P3 and P2×P4 showed positive specific combining ability effects for monosaccharaides, and the hybrids P1×P2 and P2×P5 for total sugars and monosaccharaides, and the hybrids P3×P5,P4×P5 and P5×P6 for disaccharides, and P1×P5 hybrid for the fruit content of carotenoids, and P1×P4 and P2×P3 hybrids for the fruit content of vitamin C, and four hybrids showed positively significant reciprocal effects for dry matter trait. The GCA/SCA showed that the non-additive gene action effects controlled the inheritance of all studied traits. The Estimates of the broad sense heritability was high in all traits. While the narrow sense heritability was an intermediate estimate for fruit content of carotenoids and total soluble solids.

Keyword: Combining Ability, Heritability, Melon, total sugar.

Full paper in Arabic: pdf