The probability of crop-to-wild gene flow depends on the geographic distribution of crops and their wild relatives1. In this context, caution has been advised in relation to the release of transgenic crops into their centres of origin, i.e. the geographical regions in which they were domesticated, and where wild relatives and/or weedy forms persist. In countries with high plant biodiversity like India, where almost 400 species of crop wild relatives are found, this is a relevant approach. The Indo-Burma zone2, or the Indian subcontinent itself3 are regions in which the brinjal eggplant,  Solanum melongena  L., may have originated. Other parts of Asia have also been suggested as candidate areas4, and the precise centre of origin remains in question.