Reduced inbreeding depression in separate generations of onions

Abstract Mitigating reductions in vigor in onion seed production has been a great challenge to breeding programs. Therefore, we compared the effects of inbreeding depression among populations obtained from self-fertilization and crossbreeding with two and three plants. We evaluated eleven populations and three breeding methods (two and three-plant crossbreeding, and self-fertilization of one plant) and measured the characteristics related to seed yield (plant appearance, stem vigor, number of umbels, flowering uniformity, fruit setting, and resistance to Alternaria) from 2014 to 2015. Thirteen RAPD molecular markers were used to determine the genetic divergence among populations derived from different breeding methods. We found that inbreeding depression affects plant vigor in early generations that have greater heterozygosity. Three-plant crossbreeding results in greater seed yield in populations with low levels of inbreeding. The populations obtained from self-fertilization and two- and three-plant crossbreeding were genetically similar, demonstrating the efficiency of obtaining inbred lines without genetic divergence.