Characterization and conservation of Capsicum spp. germoplasm from UFSCar for use in improvement programs

• Grant number: 10/16649-8
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: January 01, 2011
• End date: December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Cesar Sala
• Grantee: Fernando Cesar Sala
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Agrárias (CCA). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Araras , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Hot pepper and sweet pepper (Capsicum spp.) constitute important vegetable species cultivated in Brazil, being the sweet pepper one of the spices with the greatest expansion in Brazilian agribusiness. The genetic diversity is a basic premise to the genetic improvement, being that a germoplasm bank, properly characterized and organized, is considered the initial tool to the work of improvement of these species. This project aims at characterizing and conserving the accesses of Capsicum of UFSCar for posterior use in genetic improvement programs. The characterization will be done in accordance to the International Plant Genetic Resource Institute (IPGRI, 1995) for qualitative and quantitative characters in a collection of 168 accesses belonging to four species. Concomitant to the morphological characterization, the accesses will be multiplied and the collection of Capsicum will be kept stored as seeds. The main data and images of the respective collection will be made available in a home-page in order to increase the national and international visibility of this collection, aiming at giving support to the improvement works of the Capsicum of UFSCar and of other institutions of research. (AU)