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Roots are critical for plants to withstand environmental abiotic and biotic stresses. Wild taxa are often used as source of variation for improving root systems, as they are adapted to more stressful soil environments than their cultivated relatives. We studied the genetics of traits related to root biomass, root length, and root architecture (considering the primary/secondary and the tertiary root levels) in melon (Cucumis melo L.) in a 2-year assay by examining the root systems of mature plants in 91 F₃ families derived from the cross between a wild accession, Pat 81 [C. melo ssp. agrestis (Naud) Pangalo], and a cultivated accession, `Piel de sapo' (C. melo ssp. melo L.). Despite the difficulties of working with adult plants, we found that Pat 81 and `Piel de sapo' differ greatly in their mature root systems, which is in concordance with the results previously obtained with young roots. Pat 81 developed roots with less biomass than `Piel de sapo', but this wild accession had more favorable root length and architectural traits: a higher density of framework roots, more uniformly distributed along the soil profile, longer laterals with a higher density of branches, and a higher number of root orders. This root structure is linked to a deeper rooting ability and to the capacity of exploiting a larger soil volume. The genetic analysis indicated that length and architectural traits are more stable than biomass traits, both between years and between developmental stages. Moderate to low broad- and narrow-sense heritabilites were found for root length and architectural traits, with most of the observed variation due to additive effects. Our results suggest that Pat 81 could be used as donor of valuable genes for increasing root length and improving the root architecture of cultivated melons, producing melons potentially more tolerant to soil stresses. The lack of phenotypic and genetic correlations between length and architectural parameters and root biomass suggest that root structure can be successfully improved without increasing carbon expenditures.

Wild relatives represent a source of variation for many traits of interest for eggplant (Solanum melongena) breeding, as well as for broadening the genetic base of this crop. However, interspecific hybridization with wild relatives has been barely used in eggplant breeding programs. As initiation of an introgression breeding program we performed 1424 interspecific hybridizations between six accessions of eggplant from the Occidental and Oriental groups and 19 accessions of 12 wild species from the primary (Solanum incanum and Solanum insanum), secondary (Solanum anguivi, Solanum dasyphyllum, Solanum lichtensteinii, Solanum linnaeanum, Solanum pyracanthos, Solanum tomentosum, and Solanum violaceum), and tertiary (Solanum elaeagnifolium, Solanum sisymbriifolium, and Solanum torvum) genepools. Fruit set, hybrid seed, and seed germination were obtained between Solanum melongena and all wild species of the primary and secondary genepools. The highest fruit set percentage and quantity of seeds per fruit were obtained with the two primary genepool species S. incanum and S. insanum as well as with some secondary genepool species, like S. anguivi, S. dasyphyllum, or S. lichtensteinii, although some differences among species were observed depending on the direction of the hybridization. For small-fruited wild species, the number of seeds per fruit was lower when using them as maternal parent. Regarding tertiary genepool species, fruit set was obtained only in interspecific hybridizations of eggplant with S. sisymbriifolium and S. torvum, although the fruit of the former were parthenocarpic. However, it was possible to rescue viable interspecific hybrids with S. torvum. In total we obtained 58 interspecific hybrid combinations (excluding reciprocals) between eggplant and wild relatives. Some differences were observed among S. melongena accessions in the degree of success of interspecific hybridization, so that the number of hybrid combinations obtained for each accession ranged between 7 (MEL2) and 16 (MEL1). Hybridity of putative interspecific hybrid plantlets was confirmed with a morphological trait (leaf prickliness) and 12 single nucleotide polymorphism markers. The results show that eggplant is amenable to interspecific hybridization with a large number of wild species, including tertiary genepool materials. These hybrid materials are the starting point for introgression breeding in eggplant and in some cases might also be useful as rootstocks for eggplant grafting.