Heterotic potential, potence ratio, combining ability and genetic control of yield and its contributing traits in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Figures & data

Table 1. List of the cucumber genotypes used in the hybridisation programme.

Sr. no.	Genotype	Source	Pollination mechanism
(a)	Lines
1.	CGN-19533	Centre for Crop Genetic Resources, the Netherlands	Gynoecious
2.	CGN-20256	Centre for Crop Genetic Resources, the Netherlands	Gynoecious
3.	CGN-20515	Centre for Crop Genetic Resources, the Netherlands	Gynoecious
4.	CGN-20953	Centre for Crop Genetic Resources, the Netherlands	Gynoecious
5.	CGN-20969	Centre for Crop Genetic Resources, the Netherlands	Gynoecious
6.	CGN-21585	Centre for Crop Genetic Resources, the Netherlands	Gynoecious
7.	CGN-22930	Centre for Crop Genetic Resources, the Netherlands	Gynoecious
8.	LC-1-1	Dhangota, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India	Monoecious
9.	LC-2-2	Bhota, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India	Monoecious
10.	LC-3-3	Awahdevi, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India	Monoecious
11.	LC-12-4	Gagal, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India	Monoecious
12.	LC-15-5	Sarkaghat, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India	Monoecious
13.	LC-21-6	Dangar, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India	Monoecious
14.	LC-25-7	Saru, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India	Monoecious
15.	LC-28-8	Sambha, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India	Monoecious
16.	Gyne-5	ICAR-IARI Regional Station, Katrain, Kullu, H.P. India	Gynoecious
(b)	Testers
1.	K-75	UHF, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India	Monoecious
2.	Japanese Long Green	ICAR-IARI Regional Station, Katrain, Kullu, H.P. India	Monoecious
3.	Poinsette	National Seeds Corporation, New Delhi, India	Monoecious

Table 2. Top five parents and cross combinations identified on the basis of mean performance for different yield and its contributing traits in cucumber.

Trait	Range		Mean ± S.E.(d)	Top five parents	Top five cross combinations
	Parents	Hybrids
Days to first female flower appearance	50.17–62.33	47.20–63.77	55.20 ± 0.86	CGN-20953 (50.17)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (47.20)
				CGN-19533(50.23)	LC-1-1 × K-75 (48.30)
				CGN-20969 (50.97)	LC-2-2 × Poinsette (48.40)
				CGN-20515 (51.70)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (48.40)
				Gyne-5 (51.73)	Gyne-5 × K-75 (49.73)
Node number bearing first female flower	3.23–9.87	2.73–10.95	6.48 ± 0.38	CGN-20953 (3.23)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (2.73)
				CGN-19533(3.47)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (3.10)
				CGN-20969 (3.87)	LC-1-1 × K-75 (3.15)
				CGN-20515 (4.27)	LC-2-2 × Poinsette (3.17)
				Gyne-5 (4.27)	Gyne-5 × K-75 (3.50)
Days to marketable maturity	58.13–70.33	55.00–72.40	63.41 ± 0.76	CGN-20953 (58.13)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (55.00)
				CGN-19533(58.23)	LC-1-1 × K-75 (56.03)
				CGN-20969 (58.97)	LC-2-2 × Poinsette (56.27)
				Gyne-5 (59.67)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (56.87)
				CGN-20515 (59.70)	Gyne-5 × K-75 (57.53)
Fruit length (cm)	12.20–24.17	14.80–24.60	18.43 ± 0.67	JLG (24.17)	LC-25-7 × JLG (24.60)
				LC-25-7 (21.93)	LC-1-1 × K-75 (22.10)
				CGN-20953 (19.83)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (21.90)
				CGN-22930 (19.60)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (21.63)
				CGN-19533 (18.40)	Gyne-5 × K-75 (21.60)
Fruit breadth (cm)	3.40–5.60	3.53–6.23	4.77 ± 0.15	CGN-20515 (5.60)	LC-25-7 × JLG (6.23)
				LC-15-5 (5.47), Poinsette (5.20)	LC-15-5 × Poinsette (5.87)
				LC-2-2 (5.10,	CGN-20515 × Poinsette (5.73)
				LC-21-6 (5.03)	LC-1-1 × K-75 (5.70)
					CGN-20953 × K-75 (5.60)
					LC-2-2 × K-75 (5.60)
Average fruit weight (g)	167.30–348.63	214.33–369.60	274.33 ± 11.38	JLG (348.63)	LC-25-7 × JLG (369.60)
				LC-25-7 (322.57)	LC-1-1 × K-75 (352.60)
				CGN-20953 (285.73)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (345.80)
				CGN-22930 (285.73)	Gyne-5 × K-75 (338.43)
				LC-15-5 (276.67)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (337.30)
				CGN-19533(268.73)
Number of marketable fruits per plant	3.77–8.67	4.02–12.03	7.92 ± 0.27	Gyne-5 (8.67)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (12.03)
				LC-1-1 (8.63)	LC-1-1 × K-75 (11.95)
				CGN-20515 (8.60)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (11.93)
				Poinsette (8.43)	LC-2-2 × Poinsette (11.88)
				LC-2-2 (8.03)	Gyne-5 × K-75 (11.67)
Harvest duration (days)	14.55–28.17	14.25–36.69	25.28 ± 0.98	LC-1-1 (28.17)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (36.69)
				Poinsette (26.61)	LC-1-1 × K-75 (36.46)
				LC-2-2 (26.49)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (36.41)
				Gyne-5 (26.27)	LC-2-2 × Poinsette (36.27)
				CGN-20515 (26.08)	Gyne-5 × K-75 (35.67)
Marketable yield per plant (kg)	0.95–2.29	1.06–4.21	2.19 ± 0.11	LC-1-1 (2.29)	LC-1-1 × K-75 (4.21)
				CGN-20953 (2.24)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (4.13)
				JLG (2.10)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (4.06)
				Gyne-5 (2.04)	Gyne-5 × K-75 (3.95)
				LC-15-5 (2.00)	LC-3-3 × Poinsette (3.34)

Abbreviation: JLG, Japanese Long Green.

Table 3. Estimates of GCA and SCA effects for different yield and its contributing traits in cucumber.

Trait (s)	Top five significant desirable parents*	Top five significant desirable cross combinations*
Days to first female flower appearance	LC-1-1 (−2.77), CGN-19533 (−2.56), Poinsette (−2.40), CGN-20953 (−2.23) and LC-2-2 (−1.61)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (−3.64), CGN-19533 × K-75 (−3.25), LC-1-1 × K-75 (−3.14), Gyne-5 × K-75 (−3.12) and LC-2-2 × Poinsette (−3.07)
Node number bearing first female flower	Poinsette (−1.31), LC-1-1 (−1.23), CGN-20953 (−0.95), CGN-19533 (−0.94) and Gyne-5 (−0.91)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (−2.05), CGN-20953 × Poinsette (−1.75), LC-1-1 × K-75 (−1.70), Gyne-5 × K-75 (−1.68) and LC-2-2 × Poinsette (−1.62)
Days to marketable maturity	LC-1-1 (−3.08), Poinsette (−2.50), CGN-20953 (−2.40), CGN-19533 (−2.15) and Gyne-5 (−1.65)	CGN-20953 × Poinsette (−3.86), CGN-19533 × K-75 (−3.44), LC-1-1 × K-75 (−3.36), LC-2-2 × Poinsette (−3.36) and Gyne-5 × K-75 (−3.28)
Fruit length	LC-25-7 (2.22), LC-1-1 (1.77), CGN-20953 (1.75), CGN-19533 (1.43) and Gyne-5 (1.32)	LC-25-7 × Japanese Long Green (2.94), CGN-20953 × Poinsette (1.70), CGN-19533 × K-75 (1.42), LC-1-1 × K-75 (1.27) and Gyne-5 × K-75 (1.23)
Fruit breadth	CGN-20515 (0.79), K-75 (0.40), LC-15-5 (0.32), LC-1-1 (0.19) and Gyne-5 (0.18)	CGN-20515 × Japanese Long Green (1.18), LC-15-5 × Poinsette (0.63), Gyne-5 × Japanese Long Green (0.59), CGN-22930 × K-75 (0.48) and LC-12-4 × Poinsette (0.41)
Average fruit weight	LC-1-1 (33.29), LC-25-7 (31.03), CGN-20953 (30.65), CGN-19533 (25.96) and Gyne-5 (25.36)	LC-25-7 × Japanese Long Green (55.44), CGN-20953 × Poinsette (34.07), CGN-19533 × K-75 (27.56), LC-3-3 × Poinsette (27.51) and LC-1-1 × K-75 (27.03)
Number of fruits per plant	Poinsette (1.31), LC-1-1 (1.23), CGN-19533 (0.95), Gyne-5 (0.89) and CGN-20953 (0.77)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (2.04), Gyne-5 × K-75 (1.83), LC-1-1 × K-75 (1.79), CGN-20953 × Poinsette (1.67) and LC-2-2 × Poinsette (1.62)
Harvest duration	LC-1-1 (3.38), Poinsette (2.64), Gyne-5 (2.51), CGN-19533 (2.40) and CGN-20953 (2.19)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (5.94), Gyne-5 × K-75 (5.10), LC-1-1 × K-75 (5.00), CGN-20953 × Poinsette (4.68) and LC-2-2 × Poinsette (4.53)
Marketable yield per plant	LC-1-1 (0.70), CGN-20953 (0.56), CGN-19533 (0.54), Gyne-5 (0.49) and K-75 (0.29)	CGN-19533 × K-75 (0.93), LC-25-7 × Japanese Long Green (0.88), LC-1-1 × K-75 (0.86), CGN-20953 × Poinsette (0.86) and Gyne-5 × K-75 (0.80).

*P < .05.

Table 4. Estimates of genetic components of variance for yield and its contributing traits in cucumber.

Trait	σ^2 GCA (lines)	σ^2 GCA (testers)	σ^2 GCA (average)	σ^2 SCA	σ^2g	σ^2s	σ^2g/σ^2s (variance ratio)
Days to first female flower appearance	0.99	9.81	8.42	8.80	33.68	35.20	0.96
Node number bearing first female flower	−0.01	3.83	2.39	2.44	9.56	9.76	0.98
Days to marketable maturity	0.95	10.61	9.09	9.52	36.36	38.08	0.95
Fruit length	2.43	0.33	0.66	1.32	2.64	5.28	0.50
Fruit breadth	−0.01	0.21	0.17	0.30	0.68	1.20	0.57
Average fruit weight	702.53	61.29	162.53	532.96	650.12	2131.84	0.30
Number of marketable fruits per plant	−0.03	2.84	2.38	2.47	9.52	9.88	0.96
Harvest duration	−0.47	22.53	18.93	19.08	75.72	76.32	0.99
Marketable yield per plant	0.08	0.22	0.20	0.36	0.80	1.44	0.55

Abbreviations: GCA, general combining ability; SCA, specific combining ability.

Table 5. Estimates of heterosis and potence ratio for yield and its contributing traits in cucumber.

Days to first female flower appearance				Node number bearing first female flower				Days to marketable maturity
Top 10 cross combinations	MPH (%)	BPH (%)	Potence ratio (%)	Top 10 cross combination	MPH (%)	BPH (%)	Potence ratio (%)	Top 10 cross combinations	MPH (%)	BPH (%)	Potence ratio (%)
CGN-19533 × K-75	−10.23*	−3.64*	1.50	CGN-19533 × K-75	−43.64*	−10.66	1.18	CGN-19533 × K-75	−8.15*	−2.34*	1.37
CGN-20953 × K-75	−7.27*	−0.40	1.05	CGN-20953 × Poinsette	−29.64*	−15.48	1.77	CGN-20953 × Poinsette	−6.98*	−5.38*	4.13
CGN-20953 × Poinsette	−7.79*	−5.92*	3.93	LC-1-1 × K-75	−50.00*	−37.87*	2.56	LC-1-1 × K-75	−11.58*	−8.34*	3.28
LC-1-1 × K-75	−12.71*	−8.99*	3.11	LC-2-2 × K-75	−23.53*	−10.36	1.60	LC-2-2 × K-75	−5.22*	−2.58*	1.92
LC-2-2 × K-75	−6.86*	−3.88*	2.21	LC-2-2 × Poinsette	−37.41*	−30.02*	3.54	LC-2-2 × Poinsette	−7.95*	−6.42*	4.86
LC-2-2 × Poinsette	−8.96*	−7.28*	4.94	LC-3-3 × Poinsette	−21.29*	−3.31	1.14	LC-15-5 × Poinsette	−2.83*	−0.83	1.40
LC-25-7 × JLG	−3.71*	−2.38	2.71	LC-15-5 × Poinsette	−19.23*	−7.28	1.49	LC-21-6 × K-75	−6.57*	−3.20*	1.89
LC-21-6 × K-75	−7.73*	−3.94*	1.96	LC-21-6 × K-75	−27.24*	−15.94*	2.03	LC-25-7 × JLG	−2.81*	−1.68	2.44
LC-28-8 × K-75	−6.60*	−6.60*	0.00	LC-28-8 × K-75	−24.30*	−24.30*	0.00	LC-28-8 × K-75	−5.38*	−5.38*	0.00
Gyne-5 × K-75	−9.03*	−3.87*	1.68	Gyne-5 × K-75	−40.68*	−18.03*	1.47	Gyne-5 × K-75	−8.15*	−3.59*	1.72
Fruit length				Fruit breadth				Average fruit weight
Top 10 cross combinations	MPH (%)	BPH (%)	Potence ratio (%)	Top 10 cross combinations	MPH (%)	BPH (%)	Potence ratio (%)	Top 10 cross combinations	MPH (%)	BPH (%)	Potence ratio (%)
CGN-19533 × K-75	29.32*	19.02*	3.39	CGN-19533 × K-75	16.53*	10.66*	3.12	CGN-19533 × K-75	39.41*	28.68*	4.73
CGN-20515 × K-75	16.56*	13.77*	6.76	CGN-20515 × JLG	38.44*	11.25*	1.57	CGN-20953 × K-75	28.38*	15.27*	2.50
CGN-20953 × Poinsette	21.65*	9.08*	1.88	CGN-20953 × K-75	24.44*	12.68*	2.34	CGN-20953 × Poinsette	29.33*	18.05*	3.07
CGN-21585 × K-75	18.03*	17.65*	55.60	CGN-22930 × K-75	16.88*	8.65*	2.23	LC-1-1 × K-75	43.13*	32.89*	5.60
LC-1-1 × K-75	32.97*	24.37*	4.77	LC-1-1 × K-75	15.50*	14.69*	21.86	LC-1-1 × Poinsette	24.42*	17.51*	4.15
LC-2-2 × K-75	18.90*	18.03*	25.61	LC-2-2 × K-75	11.22*	9.80*	8.69	LC-2-2 × K-75	25.94*	24.26*	19.19
LC-3-3 × K-75	22.75*	16.48*	4.23	LC-3-3 × K-75	6.87*	6.44*	17.00	LC-3-3 × K-75	28.51*	21.14*	4.69
LC-3-3 × Poinsette	21.18*	15.90*	4.65	LC-15-5 × Poinsette	10.03*	7.31*	3.96	LC-3-3 × Poinsette	26.22*	21.07*	6.16
Gyne-5 × K-75	37.14*	34.75*	20.89	Gyne-5 × K-75	9.15*	8.05*	9.00	LC-12-4 × Poinsette	19.79*	19.22*	40.94
Gyne-5 × Poinsette	18.83*	17.72*	19.93	Gyne-5 × JLG	21.64*	3.29	1.22	Gyne-5 × K-75	46.29*	43.83*	27.01

Number of fruits per plant				Harvest duration				Marketable yield per plant
Top 10 cross combinations	MPH (%)	BPH (%)	Potence ratio (%)	Top 10 cross combinations	MPH (%)	BPH (%)	Potence ratio (%)	Top 10 cross combinations	MPH (%)	BPH (%)	Potence ratio (%)
CGN-19533 × K-75	77.13*	68.03*	14.23	CGN-19533 × K-75	62.87*	52.47*	9.22	CGN-19533 × K-75	148.25*	141.80*	55.56
CGN-20953 × K-75	33.56*	27.33*	6.86	CGN-20953 × K-75	26.65*	23.99*	12.39	CGN-20953 × Poinsette	92.07*	81.54*	15.88
CGN-20953 × Poinsette	47.97*	42.70*	13.00	CGN-20953 × Poinsette	42.37*	37.88*	13.00	CGN-22930 × K-75	60.17*	56.14*	23.35
CGN-21585 × Poinsette	40.12*	33.81*	8.50	CGN-21585 × Poinsette	35.43*	29.99*	8.46	LC-1-1 × K-75	115.51*	83.92*	6.73
CGN-22930 × JLG	37.16*	36.82*	149.00	CGN-22930 × JLG	28.29*	24.94*	10.56	LC-2-2 × K-75	64.88*	53.56*	8.81
LC-1-1 × K-75	51.94*	38.47*	5.34	LC-1-1 × K-75	40.10*	29.43*	4.86	LC-2-2 × Poinsette	68.67*	63.85*	23.34
LC-2-2 × Poinsette	44.35*	40.93*	18.25	LC-2-2 × Poinsette	36.61*	36.30*	162.00	LC-3-3 × Poinsette	75.43*	67.74*	16.46
LC-15-5 × Poinsette	38.57*	28.71*	5.03	LC-3-3 × Poinsette	31.15*	24.20*	5.57	LC-15-5 × Poinsette	56.91*	56.46*	201.89
LC-28-8 × K-75	37.64*	32.11*	9.00	LC-15-5 × Poinsette	31.26*	25.44*	6.64	LC-28-8 × K-75	65.22*	63.23*	53.44
Gyne-5 × K-75	48.00*	34.60*	4.82	Gyne-5 × K-75	42.25*	35.78*	8.87	Gyne-5 × K-75	116.00*	93.77*	10.11

Abbreviation: JLG, Japanese Long Green.

*P < .05.