Resumen
The present propasal is aimed at developing and preparing pre-breed materials of eggplant
( Solanum melongena) containing introgressions of wild relatives far incorporating them in
breeding pipelines in arder to develop new eggplant materials with improved adaptation to
climate change. The project will use the wealth of pre-bred materials obtained in the former
project "Uti/ization of crop wild re/atives in eggplant breeding far adaptation to climate change"
(Dec. 2013-Dec. 2016), where interspecific hybrids with wild species from the primary,
secondary and tertiary genepools, advanced backcross generations of these hybrids towards
the cultivated eggplant, and introgression lines with the wild relative S. incanum were obtained.
The team is composed by tour partners consisting of an international research center (World
Vegetable Center; coordinator), with headquarters at Taiwan, and three universities from lvory
Coast (Université Félix Houphouet-Boigny), Sri Lanka (University of Peradeniya) and Spain
(Universitat Politécnica de Valencia; coordinator),) which successfully developed the former
project, . The project will also count on the collaboration of five breeding companies (East-West
Seed, Meridiem Seeds, Callivoire, Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Limited, and Novagenetic)
from different parts of the world and an important focus on world regions where climate change
will probably have a majar impact. The partners and collaborating companies have a wide
experience in eggplant diversity studies and breeding. The project will involve further
development of materials using already available advanced backcross materials, multiplication
of seeds of materials of interest for future evaluation, the characterization of materials far
relevant traits of commercial interest and far tolerance to drought and biotic stresses, the
introduction of materials in breeding pipelines of the collaborating companies, as well as a
capacity building component. Materials and data obtained will be made available to users using
the standard material transfer agreement (SMTA) adopted under the lnternational Treaty on
Plant Genetic Resources far Food and Agriculture. As a result of the project, it is expected that
eggplant materials carrying introgressions from wild relatives and prepared far the development
of new eggplant varieties adapted to climate change will be obtained.
