Eggplant Trichome Reduction for Biological Pest Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Eggplants with high numbers of trichomes cause skin irritation in humans and hinder biological pest control by affecting the movement and effectiveness of natural enemies of pest insects, requiring a solution that reduces trichome density while maintaining pest control efficacy.
Innovation Solution
Development of eggplants with a genetic determinant that reduces trichome density on vegetative parts, specifically to less than 130 trichomes per square centimeter, utilizing seeds deposited under NCIMB 41756 and NCIMB 42013, which can be introgressed into other eggplant varieties through crossing and selection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If eggplant has high trichome density, then mechanical barrier against pests is improved, but biological pest control effectiveness deteriorates and skin irritation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating trichome density across different plant parts. The eggplant variety maintains adequate trichome coverage on stems and calyx for mechanical protection while having significantly reduced trichome density on leaf blades (less than 130 per square centimeter), thereby facilitating biological pest control and reducing skin irritation without completely eliminating protective functions.
2Strength
If eggplant has high trichome density, then mechanical barrier against pests is improved, but handling safety deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reduces trichome density specifically on leaf blades to less than 130 per square centimeter while maintaining trichomes on other vegetative parts like stems and calyx. This localized reduction minimizes skin irritation for handlers during routine operations while preserving the mechanical barrier function where it provides pest protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts or removes the excessive trichomes from the leaf blade surface through selective breeding to achieve a variety with less than 130 trichomes per square centimeter on mature leaves, thereby eliminating the harmful skin irritation effect while retaining essential protective functions on other plant parts.
3Strength
If eggplant has high trichome density, then mechanical barrier against pests is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a eggplant variety with differentiated trichome distribution, having reduced trichome density (less than 130 per square centimeter) on leaf blades to improve handling ease and reduce skin irritation, while maintaining trichomes on stems and calyx to preserve mechanical pest protection during field operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to an eggplant, in particular a Solanum melongena plant, comprising a genetic determinant, which when present confers a reduced number of trichomes on vegetative plant parts, and which is as found in plants grown from seed of which representative samples were deposited under NCIMB accession numbers NCIMB 41756 and NCIMB 42013. When the genetic determinant is homozygously present the number of trichomes is strongly reduced.