Anatomical character study in relation to brinjal shoot and fruit borer

Abstract

Anatomical characters seem to be related with resistance or susceptibility of brinjal varieties/genotypes to shoot and fruit borer. Genotypes or varieties having thick cuticle, thick collenchymatous area (hypodermis), compact parenchyma cells in cortical tissue, small area in the cortical tissues, more vascular bundles with narrower spaces in the interfascicular region, and compact arrangement of vascular tissue with lignified cells and small pith were the main characters of resistant/tolerant varieties. On the other hand, susceptibility of brinjal genotypes or varieties are attributed to anatomical characters like thinner cuticle and collenchyma area (hypodermis), loose parenchyma cells in the cortical region, larger spaces between vascular bundles i.e. interfascicular region and large pith, less number of trichomes, soft parenchymatous cells in the interfascicular region. Such variation in anatomical character might be responsible for the resistance or susceptibility to brinjal shoot and fruit borer.