Molecular markers detect stable genomic regions underlying tomato fruit shelf life and weight

Incorporating wild germplasm such as S. pimpinellifolium is an alternative strategy to prolong tomato fruit shelf life (SL) without reducing fruit quality. A set of recombinant inbred lines with discrepant values of SL and weight (FW) were derived by antagonistic-divergent selection from an interspecific cross. The general objective of this research was to evaluate Genotype x Year (GY) and Marker x Year (MY) interaction in these new genetic materials for both traits. Genotype and year principal effects and GY interaction were statistically significant for SL. Genotype and year principal effects were significant for FW but GY interaction was not. The marker principal effect was significant for SL and FW but both year principal effect and MY interaction were not significant. Though SL was highly influenced by year conditions, some genome regions appeared to maintain a stable effect across years of evaluation. Fruit weight, instead, was more independent of year effect.