Wild relatives of okra represent a good source of variation for breeding programs, particularly for traits related to biotic and abiotic stresses and fruit quality. However, wild species remain largely unexploited for okra breeding. The cultivated okra accession Abelmoschus esculentus cv. ‘Arka Anamika’ was crossed with three wild accessions: Abelmoschus manihot, Abelmoschus ficulens and Abelmoschus moschatus. The crossability was estimated based on fruit set, seed set and germination rate. The results of cross compatibility studies revealed that the crosses are compatible only when cultivated A. esculentus is used as a female, and reciprocal crosses were not successful in any of the three wild species. Higher fruit set (87.2%) and seed germination (92%) were obtained from the crosses ‘Arka Anamika’ × Abelmoschus manihot. The interspecific F₁s exhibited normal growth, flowering and fruit formation, but the hybrids were completely sterile on selfing due to abnormal meiosis. Characterization of the parents and interspecific hybrids revealed that the interspecific hybrids were generally more vigorous than the parents and displayed greater alliance towards their wild parent. The sterile F₁s were further treated with 0.1% colchicine to restore fertility. The three interspecific crosses showed considerable differences in mean performance and heterosis over mid parent and better parent. The cross ‘A. Anamika’ × A. manihot displayed positive heterosis over mid parent and better parent for the yield traits, viz., fruit yield per plant, number of fruits per plant, number of primary branches per plant and plant height. The information obtained in the study on crossability relationship, phenotypic characterization and heterosis in interspecific hybrids will assist breeders in the development of prebreeding material.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, an invasive, polyphagous pest, causes significant damage to corn. The majority of insects rely on a broad range of digestive enzymes and an intricate detoxifying mechanism to consume chemically diverse host plants. The genetic variation in S. frugiperda was analyzed using cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and triose phosphate isomerase (Tpi). In addition, a new attempt was made to determine the variation with respect to two detoxifying genes, viz., carboxylesterase and glutathione S-transferase. The highest genetic variation (3.03%) was found between the S. frugiperda populations of Tirupati and Delhi with respect to the Tpi gene and between the populations of Punjab and Hosur regarding COI (3.30%). The results for various genes revealed that populations of the fall armyworm were homogeneous, showing low genetic distance using COI, ranging from 0.40 to 3.30%, and, using Tpi, ranging from 0.43 to 3.03%. The variation in carboxylesterase and glutathione S-transferase ranged from 0.04 to 0.15% and from 0.01 to 0.02, respectively. Amino acid sequences were also produced using DNA sequences from several fall armyworm populations. Populations in Tirupati, Solapur, and Hyderabad shared 98.7% of their sequence with that in Delhi. Fall armyworm amino acid sequences showed 79.7 to 82.0% identity with S. exigua and 69.6 to 73.0% identity with S. litura. Our study provides vital information for understanding the genetic variation in the fall armyworm following its invasion of India.