Inheritance of Immature Fruit Color in C. Moschata

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Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report 16:68-69 (article 24) 1993

Antonio I.I. Cardosa, Paulo T. Della Vecchia, and Norberto Silva
Agroflora S/A, Caixa Postal 427, 12900-000 Braganca Paullsta – SP, Brazil; Departmento de Agricultura e Melhoramento Vegetal, FAC-Campus Botucatu-UNESP, 186-000 Botucatu – SP, Brazil

Bush types of C. moschata with field resistance to Papaya Ring Spot Virus-W were developed in Brazil, as an alternative to C. pepo for the production of immature fruits (1). Lines were obtained for different immature fruit color such as: Mottled Light and Dark Green, Uniform Dark Green and Precocious Yellow. Several studies have been reported on the inheritance of immature fruit color in C. pepo (2, 3, 4, 5, 6). However, no report was found in the literature on the inheritance of this train in C. mochata. The present paper reports on the inheritance of immature fruit color in a cross between two C. moschata lines which produce Mottled Light and Dark Green (P1) and Uniform Dark Green (P2) immature fruits, respectively.

Parental lines were selfed for seven generations before being crossed to produce the F1, F2, BCP1 and BCP2 populations. Parents F1, F1, BCP1 and BCP2 populations were grown under field conditions at Sao Manuel-SP, Brazil, during the Summer season of 1992. Plants were scored for immature fruit color 3 to 5 days after the anthesis of the female flowers.

The results are presented in Table 1. Chi-square analysis revealed a good fit for a single completely dominant gene hypothesis for the Mottled Light and dark Green immature fruit color. It is proposed the use of the symbol Mldg for this gene in C. moschata.

Table 1. Inheritance of immature fruit color in C. moschata

Number of Plants

Population
Mottled Light and Dark Green
Uniform Dark Green
Total Plants
Expected Ratio
X²
P
P1 90 0 90 1:0
P2 0 89 89 0:1
F1 0 0 83 1:0
F2 283 96 379 3:1 0.014.> 0.99
BCP1 189 0 189 1:0
BCP2 90 95 185 1:1 0.135> 0.99

Literature Cited

  1. Della Vecchia, P.T., P. Terenciano S. and A. Terenciano. 1993. Breeding bush types of C. moschata with field resistance to PRSV-W Cucurbit Genetics Coop. Rpt. 16:
  2. Globerson, D. 1969. The inheritance of white fruit and stem colour in summer squash. Euphytica 18: 249-255.
  3. Paris, H.S. and H. Nerson. 1986. Genes for intense pigmentation of squash. J. Heredity 77: 403-409.
  4. Paris, H.S. 1989. List, description and interactions of the genes affecting fruit color in C. pepo. Cucurbit Genetics Coop. Rpt. 12:72-74.
  5. Scharhuk, J. 1954. Fruit and leaf characters in summer squash. J. Heredity 45: 295-297.