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

Enzyme electrophoretic studies were made in cultivated Solanum melonge na L. (eggplant) and similar wild and weedy forms, several of which ha ve been thought to be different species/taxa. Twenty-nine accessions o f S. melongena, 33 accessions of weedy forms (referred to as ''insanum '') and 2 accessions of wild forms (referred to as ''incanum'') were s urveyed for 29 isozyme loci. In S. melongena, 22 of the 29 loci were m onomorphic, and nearly all of its genes were either also monomorphic o r in similar frequencies in insanum and incanum. The results demonstra te that the three taxa have a very close genetic relationship. The hig h genetic identities between them (0.913-0.967) suggests that they are conspecific even though they include extensive morphological diversit y.