With the objective of obtaining interspecific hybrids between Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. and L. peruvianum Mill., cultivars 'Floradade' and 'Ipa-5' were crossed with three accessions (CNPH 946, CNPH 947, CNPH 948) of L. peruvianum resistant to septoria leaf spot (Septoria lycopersici). Crossability barriers between these two species were overcome by using ovule culture. Putative interspecific F1 hybrid seeds from fruits harvested 25-68 days after pollination were initially placed in contact with the MS medium and lately with the HLH medium. The immature seeds were cultured on HLH medium. Sixteen putative hybrids were obtained from a total of 1,573 ovules, thus 1.0% of the ovules that were plated germinated. The morphological characteristics of the putative hybrids and their parents indicated that the plants were truly hybrids.
Septoria lycopersici; hybridization; ovule culture; in vitro regeneration
