VARIABILITY IN SEED GERMINATION CHARACTERISTICS OF CAPSICUM ANNUUM L. AND CAPSICUM FRUTESCENS L.

Seed germination, a phylogenetically conserved trait, is crucial for seedling establishment and survival in nature and can be used to establish phylogenetic relatedness among plant species. The current study evaluated seed germination characteristics of varieties of two closely related cultivated Capsicum species in West Africa in response to light, temperature and sowing depth under controlled environment. The varieties and species used in this study are C. annuum var. grossum, C. annuum var. abbreviatum, C. annuum var. accuminatum and C. frutescens var. baccatum. The results indicated that the varieties showed similar and overlapping germination requirements although considerable differences were also observed. However, the differences observed among the varieties do not provide enough evidence to conceive that the collections are two separate species but rather suggest that they are phylogenetically related. Additional comparative studies using DNA molecular profiling are needed to confirm the relatedness and variability in these species.