Genetic introgression from wild species into cultivated groundnut

Abstract

The cultivated groundnut (Arachis hypoguca L.) suffers from many diseases and pests. The wild relatives of groundnut have been found to he number of diseases. The diploid (2n = 20) wild sp.A.cardenasii was hybridized with the CV. VRI 2 of A. hypogaea (2n-40) and the resultant triploids (2n = 30) were studied. The progenies of the triploid gave rise to triploid, tetraploid and hexaploid (2n = 60) progenies. The tetraploid progenies were again hybridized with the cultivated groundnut and the resultant F, plants were studied. The hybrids exhibited high level of resistance to rust and leafspot diseases which indicated the transfer of genes esferring resistance from A. Cardenasii