The aubergine is an extremely versatile crop plant that comes in numerous varieties and in a wide range of colours, shapes and sizes. Now, for the first time, a complete catalogue of all the genes and characteristics of the aubergine has been compiled. This new database paves the way for more robust, climate-adapted and high-quality varieties that will secure long-term crop yields and preserve diversity in agriculture. In addition to scientists from Jülich, teams from six other countries were involved in the study. Their findings have now been published in Nature Communications.

3,400 varieties examined

Based on 3,400 eggplant varieties, the researchers reconstructed the domestication of the plant from India and Southeast Asia along Arab and Chinese trade routes to Europe and East Asia. They found that early varieties often still have light-coloured fruits and spiny leaves, while these characteristics have largely been lost in the course of breeding in other regions. The decoding of the pan-genome and pan-phenotype, which together represent the entire genetic diversity of a species as well as its external and internal characteristics, shows which traits are stably inherited and which are strongly influenced by environmental factors. This enables more targeted and rapid breeding of new, more resistant varieties with improved ingredients.

Key findings

For a detailed analysis of genes and traits, the team then focused on 368 representative aubergine varieties, including their wild ancestors. Their genomes were fully sequenced, and the researchers recorded 218 traits, including characteristics that are central to cultivation, such as resistance to diseases, pests and drought, as well as the composition of the fruit's constituents. The studies were conducted at three different locations in Spain, Italy and Turkey. The genome data and numerous varieties studied will be made available to international researchers.

In total, the team identified more than 3,000 correlations between genes and phenotypic traits. These are particularly pronounced in thorn formation, which makes harvesting difficult, in resistance to the yield-reducing fungus Fusarium, and in the content of antioxidant substances (isochlorogenic acids), which also influence the browning of the fruit flesh. Further analyses of 215 traits will follow in a separate report.

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