Morphological Characteristics of Capsicum Annuum and Capsicum Frustescenes and Production of Interspecific Hybrids to Improve Plant Performance

Ng, Si Qi (2022) Morphological Characteristics of Capsicum Annuum and Capsicum Frustescenes and Production of Interspecific Hybrids to Improve Plant Performance. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Plant hybridization is the process of crossing between genetically different parents to produce hybrids and it is a frequent phenomenon of the vascular plant. This may result in the revolution of the new species that contain the advantages from both parents. In this research, Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens are chosen as the parents of the cross-pollination. Both of them are popular in Malaysia, however, the C. Annuum were harvested with less yield with big crops and had a lower germination rate, whereas the C. Frustescens was harvested with more yield but the crops were too small. Therefore, the aim of this study is to obtain the hybrids that can enhance the chilli plant performance by increasing the yield, harvesting bigger fruit and increasing the germination rate through hybridization between the C. Annuum and C. Frustescens. The seeds of these two species were planted. The plants were watering everyday and the fertiliser with the NPK ratio of 15:15:15 was used once a week. The plants were grown in a growth chamber with the controlled conditions. The morphological characteristics for both species were compared and contrasted. For cross pollination, the anther of the species that needed to be the female parents was removed and pollen obtained from the male parent was collected in a petri dish. The pollination was carried out by using the paintbrush. Besides that, the pollen viability was determined by Alexander staining method. For the results, the morphology of these two species were recorded and the date was tabulated in the tables. The pollen viability was calculated. The results also showed that one hybrid was successfully harvested. In conclusion, it was possible to obtain hybrids with higher yield and bigger size