ALLOZYME VARIATION IN THE EGGPLANT, SOLANUM-MELONGENA L (SOLANACEAE)

Enzyme electrophoretic studies were made in cultivated Solanum melongena L. (eggplant) and similar wild and weedy forms, several of which have been thought to be different species/taxa. Twenty-nine accessions of S. melongena, 33 accessions of weedy forms (referred to as ''insanum'') and 2 accessions of wild forms (referred to as ''incanum'') were surveyed for 29 isozyme loci. In S. melongena, 22 of the 29 loci were monomorphic, and nearly all of its genes were either also monomorphic or in similar frequencies in insanum and incanum. The results demonstrate that the three taxa have a very close genetic relationship. The high genetic identities between them (0.913-0.967) suggests that they are conspecific even though they include extensive morphological diversity.