〔AREIPGR Vol. 34 : 81-101, 2018〕 doi:10.24514/00001133 Original Paper Collaborative Survey of Eggplant Genetic Resources in Lao PDR, 2017 Naonori HAMATO 1), Koji MIYATAKE 2), Tounglieng VILAYPHONE 3), Mekkhala SIMEAUNGKHOUN 3), Thongkhoun SISAPHAITHONG 3), Takeo SAITO 2) 1) Horticultural Research Center, Niigata Agricultural Research Institute, Mano, Seiro, Niigata 957-0111, Japan 2) Institute of Vegetable and Floriculture Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Kusawa 360, Ano, Tsu, Mie 514-2392, Japan 3) Horticultural Research Center, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, P. O. Box 7170, Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic Communicated by A. BABA−KASAI (Genetic Resources Center, NARO) Received Aug. 31, 2018, Accepted Dec. 14, 2018 Corresponding author: N. HAMATO (Email:
[email protected]) Summary Under a Joint Research Agreement (JRA), the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (now the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization [NARO]), Japan, and the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) have collaborated since 2014 to survey plant genetic resources in Lao PDR. The main objective of this current survey was to collect samples of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and related crop species in the Sekong and Attapeu provinces, of southeastern Lao PDR. From 13th ̵ 29th of November 2017, we collected 200 samples, including S. melongena (182) and additional Solanum spp. (18). We found a wide diversity of eggplant landraces in southeastern Lao PDR, with a variation in fruit shape (flattened, globular, ovoid, pear shaped, ellipsoid, cylindrical), sizes (24 to 153 mm long), and colors (purple, green, white); spineless landraces were also common.