review · Frontiers in Plant Science
Eggplant ranks as the fifth most economically important solanaceous crop globally. Alongside the common brinjal eggplant, two under-utilised species, scarlet eggplant and gboma eggplant, are also cultivated. Although identifying eggplant wild relatives presents taxonomic challenges, recent genetic and phenotypic classifications into primary, secondary, and tertiary genepools support their use in plant breeding. The World Vegetable Center maintains the largest public collection of the three cultivated species, holding over 3,200 accessions from 90 countries alongside more than 30 wild relative species. Over the past 15 years, more than 10,000 seed samples have been distributed to public and private sector organisations. Furthermore, over 1,300 accessions have undergone characterisation for yield and fruit quality traits. Future priorities focus on screening wild relatives for tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, addressing their current under-representation across global conservation systems.
Crop diversity is essential for sustaining global food production against pests, diseases, and environmental pressures. Maintaining extensive public germplasm collections provides breeders with the genetic variation needed to improve crop performance. Preserving and studying under-utilised cultivated species and wild relatives supports efforts to develop hardier, higher-yielding eggplant varieties with desirable fruit quality for diverse farming systems.
The characterised germplasm provides genetic resources directly applicable to commercial seed companies and public breeders developing improved cultivars. With over 10,000 samples already distributed to public and private entities, an active dissemination pathway exists. The resource sits at an applied breeding stage, where commercial utilisation depends on screening wild relatives for biotic and abiotic stress traits to integrate into market-ready seed varieties.
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Eggplant is the fifth most economically important solanaceous crop after potato, tomato, pepper, and tobacco. Apart from the well-known brinjal eggplant (<i>Solanum melongena</i> L.), two other under-utilized eggplant species, the scarlet eggplant (<i>S. aethiopicum</i> L.) and the gboma eggplant (<i>S. macrocarpon</i> L.) are also cultivated. The taxonomy and identification of eggplant wild relatives is challenging for breeders due to the large number of related species, but recent phenotypic and genetic data and classification in primary, secondary, and tertiary genepools, as well as information on the domestication process and wild progenitors, facilitates their utilization in breeding. The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) holds a large public germplasm collection of eggplant, which includes the three cultivated species and more than 30 eggplant wild relatives, with more than 3,200 accessions collected from 90 countries. Over the last 15 years, more than 10,000 seed samples from the Center's eggplant collection have been shared with public and private sector entities, including other genebanks. An analysis of the global occurrences and genebank holdings of cultivated eggplants and their wild relatives reveals that the WorldVeg genebank holds the world's largest public collection of the three cultivated eggplant species. The composition, seed dissemination and utilization of germplasm from the Center's collection are highlighted. In recent years more than 1,300 accessions of eggplant have been characterized for yield and fruit quality parameters. Further screening for biotic and abiotic stresses in eggplant wild relatives is a priority, as is the need to amass more comprehensive knowledge regarding wild relatives' potential for use in breeding. However, as is the case for many other crops, wild relatives are highly under-represented in the global conservation system of eggplant genetic resources.
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DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01484
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