BANG LADESH RESEARC H PUBLIC ATIO NS JO URNAL ISSN: 1998-2003, Vo lume : 11, Issue : 3, Pa g e : 233-236, June - Aug ust 2015 Re v ie w Pape r C O MBINING ABILITY O F Q UALITY TRAITS IN PUMPKIN (C uc urb ita mo sc ha ta Duc h. e x Po ir.) *Md . Sho he l Ra na 1 , Md . G o la m Ra sul 1 , A. K. M. Aminul Isla m 1 a nd M. Mo fa zza l Ho ssa in 2 Md . Sho he l Ra na , Md . G o la m Ra sul, A. K. M. Aminul Isla m a nd M. Mo fa zza l Ho ssa in (2015). Co mb ining Ab ility o f Q ua lity Tra its in Pump kin (C uc urb ita mo sc ha ta Duc h. e x Po ir.). Ba ng la d e sh Re s. Pub . J. 11(3): 233-236. Re trie ve fro m http :/ / w w w .b d re se a rc hp ub lic a tio ns.c o m / a d min/ jo urna l/ up lo a d / 1410086/ 1410086.p d f A b stra c t Tw e nty hyb rid s, p ro d uc e d fro m d ia lle l c ro ssing inc lud ing re c ip ro c a ls a m o ng five p a re nts, w e re stud ie d a lo ng w ith the p a re nts to find o ut b e st c ro ss c o m b ina tio n fo r q ua lity c o ntrib uting tra its. Pre d o mina nc e o f a d d itive -a d d itive g e ne a c tio n w a s no te d fo r m o st o f the c ha ra c te rs e xc e p t ho llo w ne ss a nd d ry m a tte r c o nte nt, w he re a d d itive - d o m ina nc e g e ne a c tio n w a s p re d o m ina nt; fle sh thic kne ss a nd b rix p e rc e nta g e , w he re dominance-dominance gene action were predominant. Among all five parents, no p a re nt w a s fo und a s g o o d c o m b ine r fo r m o re tha n tw o c ha ra c te rs. The p a re nt IB 23, IB 40 a nd IB 57 w a s fo und g o o d g e ne ra l c o m b ine r fo r the tra it d ry m a tte r c o nte nt, fruit le ng th a nd no n-re d uc ing sug a r. The b e st sp e c ific c o mb ine rs w e re IB 23 X IB 40 fo r fruit b re a d th, b rix p e rc e nta g e , no n-re d uc ing sug a r, to ta l sug a r a nd fruit yie ld ; IB 40 X IB 50 fo r ho llo w ne ss a nd b e ta c a ro te ne ; IB 40 X IB 47 fo r fle sh thic kne ss; IB 40 X IB 57 fo r b rix (%) a nd IB 23 X IB 57 fo r re d uc ing sug a r. Ke y wo rds: C o mb ining a b ility, g c a e ffe c t, sc a e ffe c ts. Intro d uc tio n Pumpkin is a very common and nutritive crop among vegetables grown in Bangladesh. No w a d a y’ s p ump kin is g e tting no te wo rthy re c o g nitio n d ue to its hig h nutritio n p ro file . Pump kin is re la tive ly hig h in e ne rg y a nd c a rb o hyd ra te s a nd a g o o d so urc e o f vita mins, e sp e c ia lly hig h c a ro te no id p ig me nts a nd mine ra ls (Bo se a nd So m, 1998). The nutrie nt p e r 100g e d ib le p o rtio ns o f fruit is 90ml wa te r, 8g c a rb o hyd ra te , 1g p ro te in, 0.5g fib e rs, 20mg c a lc ium, 0.8mg iro n, 210mg b e ta -c a ro te ne , 0.05mg thia mine , 0.05mg rib o fla vin, 0.5mg nia c in a nd 15 mg a sc o rb ic a c id (Tind a ll, 1987). It ma y c o ntrib ute to imp ro ve the nutritio na l sta tus o f the p e o p le , p a rtic ula rly the vulne ra b le g ro up s in re sp e c t o f vita m in A Re q uire me nt. In Ba ng la d e sh, the a re a und e r c ultiva tio n o f p ump kin is 9,600ha with a to ta l p ro d uc tio n o f 38,500t/ a nnum) (BBS, 2009). But its p ro d uc tio n in Ba ng la d e sh is no t e no ug h to meet the demand as until to date there is no released variety of pumpkin with high yie ld p o te ntia l a s we ll a s b e tte r nutritio na l q ua lity. In a d d itio n ve ry fe w ve nture ha s m a d e targeted to genetic improvement of pumpkin in Bangladesh. To meet up the demand, va rie ta l d e ve lo p m e nt is a c ruc ia l ne e d . Va rie ta l d e ve lo p m e nt ne e d s und e rsta nd ing the na ture a nd e no rmity o f va ria b ility a mo ng the g e rmp la sm. C o mb ining a b ility is o ne o f the p o we rful to o ls in id e ntifying the b e st c o m b ine rs tha t m a y b e use d to e xp lo it he te ro sis o r to a c c umula te fixa b le g e ne s (Sriva sta va a nd Ba jp a i, 1977). The re fo re , p re se nt stud y wa s ta ke n to e stim a te c o mb ining a b ility o f p a re nts in se ve ra l c ro sse s to sc re e n o ut the suita b le o ne with hig he r p ro d uc tio n a nd b e tte r nutritio na l q ua lity fo r future b re e d ing p ro g ra m . Materials and Methods The ma te ria ls c o mp rise d o f five a d va nc e d inb re d line s na me ly, IB 23, IB 40, IB 47, IB 50 a nd IB 57 d e ve lo p e d b y the De p a rtm e nt G e ne tic s a nd Pla nt Bre e d ing , Ba ng a b a nd hu She ikh Mujib ur Ra hm a n Ag ric ultura l Unive rsity wa s use d in the stud y fo r c o mb ining a b ility a na lysis in a 5x5 d ia lle l p o p ula tio n. The inb re d s we re synthe size d in the p re vio us ye a r. The 25 e ntrie s (20 c ro sse s a nd five p a re nts) we re g ro wn in a ra nd o mize d c o mp le te b lo c k d e sig n with *C o rre sp o nd ing Autho r Ema il: so he l_rb d @ ya ho o .c o m 1 De p a rtm e nt o f G e ne tic s a nd Pla nt Bre e d ing , Ba ng a b a nd hu She ikh Mujib ur Ra hma n Ag ric ultura l Unive rsity, G a zip ur 1706, Ba ng la d e sh 2 De p a rtm e nt o f Ho rtic ulture , Ba ng a b a nd hu She ikh Mujib ur Ra hma n Ag ric ultura l Unive rsity, G a zip ur 1706, Ba ng la d e sh