Abstract The Jala race of maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important in Mexico and has been cultivated for centuries in the Jala Valley, Nayarit, on an area currently no more than 30 ha, and its ear is recognized worldwide as the largest one (up to 60 cm in length), being an ecotype; however, due to severe “genetic erosion” a dramatic reduction in its cob and grain length has been observed. In order to contribute to its conservation and genetic improvement, we studied the productive potential and agronomic attributes, especially the cob length (LM) of Jala maize. We evaluated 14 populations: five collections of producers in the Jala region, seven semi-improved Jala populations, and two varietal hybrids with 50% of Jala germplasm as performance controls. The experiment was carried out under dry conditions in five localities: San José of Mojarras, Ixtlan del Río, Jala and Xalisco, in Nayarit, and Postgraduates College in the State of Mexico, in a randomized complete block experimental design with three repetitions. There was significance among populations and between localities for all variables; the interaction between localities and populations was significant for nine variables. Between localities the LMZ varied from 17.7 to 20.7 cm, and between populations of 17.1 to 20.8 cm. The highest grain yield was obtained by the P5 population and the A4 environment 18.6 t ha-1 and 10.9 t ha-1, respectively. The P5 population had the highest LMZ, but none of the populations had the LMZ characteristic of the Jala race, so it is proposed to increase this by the recurrent selection of long ears. In contrast, populations and environments with high grain yield capacity were identified.

Resumen La raza Jala de maíz (Zea mays L.) es una de las más importantes de México y ha sido cultivada durante siglos en el Valle de Jala, Nayarit, en una superficie actualmente no mayor a 30 ha, y su mazorca se reconoce mundialmente como de mayor tamaño (hasta 60 cm de longitud), siendo un ecotipo; no obstante, debido a “erosión genética” grave se ha observado una reducción dramática en su longitud de mazorca y de grano. Para contribuir a su conservación y mejoramiento genético, se estudió el potencial productivo y atributos agronómicos, en especial la longitud de mazorca (LM) de maíces Jala. Se evaluaron 14 poblaciones: cinco colectas de productores de la región de Jala, siete poblaciones Jala semimejoradas, y dos híbridos varietales con 50% de germoplasma de Jala como testigos para rendimiento. El experimento se estableció en condiciones de secano en cinco localidades: San José de Mojarras, Ixtlán del Río, Jala y Xalisco, en Nayarit, y Colegio de Postgraduados, en el Estado de México, en un diseño experimental de bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones. Hubo significancia entre poblaciones y entre localidades para todas las variables; la interacción localidades*poblaciones resultó significativa para nueve variables. Entre localidades la LMZ varió de 17.7 a 20.7 cm, y entre poblaciones de 17.1 a 20.8 cm. El mayor rendimiento de grano lo tuvieron la población P5 y el ambiente A4, 18.6 t ha-1 y 10.9 t ha-1, respectivamente. La población P5 presentó mayor LMZ, pero ninguna de las poblaciones tuvo la LMZ característica de la raza Jala, por lo que se propone aumentar ésta mediante la selección recurrente de mazorcas largas. En contraparte, se identificaron poblaciones y ambientes con alta capacidad de rendimiento de grano.

ABSTRACT Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most economically important vegetables in the world. Mexico is considered as its center of domestication and there is a large genetic diversity. Grafting in tomato has grown for various purposes including the increase of yield. An alternative use of native tomato genotypes is as rootstocks for grafting improved tomato. The objective of this work was to evaluate native accessions of tomato as rootstocks to identify outstanding genotypes for their potential to be used as rootstocks in tomato production. An experiment was conducted for two cropping cycles (2014 and 2015) in greenhouse and hydroponic conditions, in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates and 10 plants per experimental unit. Treatments were formed by a combination of nine native tomatoes and two commercial rootstocks with two hybrids used as scions. Twelve traits were recorded and most of the treatments were significantly different (P < 0.05) from each other for these traits. The accessions LOR-22, LOR-77, LOR-81, LOR-84, LOR-95 and LOR-100 with the hybrid ‘El Cid’, and LOR-81, LOR-84 and LOR-100 with the hybrid ‘Sun 7705’, increased significantly yield by 19% and 22%, respectively, compared to ungrafted control. Moreover, characteristics related to fruit quality were preserved with grafting. The best combination scion/rootstock (‘Cid’/100) yielded 30% higher than hybrid ‘El Cid’ without grafting and 16% higher than the commercial rootstock ‘Multifort’. This allowed identifying genotypes of Mexican native tomatoes with great potential to be used as rootstocks or as source of germplasm for rootstock development.

ABSTRACT The flowering time is regarded as an important factor that affects yield in various crops. In order to understand how the molecular basis controlling main components of earliness in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), and to deduce whether the correlation between fruit weight, days to flowering and seed weight, is caused by pleiotropic effects or genetic linkage, a QTLs analysis was carried out using an F2 interspecific population derived from the cross of S. lycopersicum and S. pimpinellifolium. The analysis revealed that most of the components related to earliness were independent due to the absence of phenotypic correlation and lack of co-localization of their QTLs. QTLs affecting the flowering time showed considerable variation over time in values of explained phenotypic variation and average effects, which suggested dominance becomes more evident over time. The path analysis showed that traits such as days to flowering, seed weight, and length of the first leaf had a significant effect on the expression of fruit weight, confirming that their correlations were due to linkage. This result was also confirmed in two genomic regions located on chromosomes 1 and 4, where despite showing high co-localization of QTLs associated to days to flowering, seed weight and fruit weight, the presence and absence of epistasis in dfft1.1 × dftt4.1 and fw1.1 × fw4.1, suggested that the linkage was the main cause of the co-localization.