Eggplant is the fifth most economically important solanaceous crop after potato, tomato, pepper, and tobacco. Apart from the well-known brinjal eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), two other under-utilized eggplant species, the scarlet eggplant (S. aethiopicum L.) and the gboma eggplant (S. macrocarpon 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.

The sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Genn., is a major pest of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and other crops throughout the tropics and subtropics. The objectives of this study were to characterize 255 accessions of S. galapagense, S. cheesmaniae and S. pimpinellifolium for trichome types, and to evaluate selected accessions with high densities of glandular trichomes for resistance to whitefly. Twenty-two accessions classified as either sparse or abundant for type IV trichomes were selected and evaluated for numbers of adults, eggs, nymphs, and puparium of whitefly in choice bioassays, for adult mortality and egg numbers in no-choice bioassays, and for densities of type I, IV, V, and VI trichomes. The highest whitefly resistance was detected in S. galapagense accessions VI063177 and VI037239 based on choice and no-choice bioassays. In addition, we found high levels of whitefly resistance in S. cheesmaniae accession VI037240 based on the choice bioassay and in S. pimpinellifolium accession VI030462 based on the no-choice bioassay. Whitefly resistance in VI037240 and VI030462 is noteworthy because these species are closely related to cultivated tomato and introgression of whitefly resistance should be relatively straightforward. High densities of type IV trichomes and low densities of type V trichomes were associated with reduced numbers of whitefly adults, nymphs, puparium, and eggs in the choice bioassay and with high adult whitefly mortality in the no-choice bioassay. Preliminary trichome analysis followed by choice and no-choice assays facilitated rapid identification of whitefly-resistant accessions from a large pool of candidates of different species.