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Seed Pod Dehiscence in Lotus and Interspecific Hybridization Involving L. corniculatus L. 1
Author(s) -
Phillips R. L.,
Keim W. F.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1968.0011183x000800010006x
Subject(s) - lotus corniculatus , biology , hybrid , pollen , backcrossing , botany , point of delivery , dehiscence , polyploid , horticulture , ploidy , genetics , gene
Whirty‐nine entries representing 16 Lotus species were tested for seed‐pod dehiscence at 38%, 33%, 25%, and 10.5% relative humidities. L. coimbrensis Willd. was the only species possessing completely indehiscent seed pods. L. angustissimus L. (Cyprus), L. tetragonolobus L., and two entries of L. ornithopodioides L. demonstrated a high degree of indehiscence. In the 34 entries where all pods dehisced, the mean number uf days for seed.pod dehiscence decreased as the relative hmnidity decreased. An interspecific‐hybridization study involving glabrous L. corniculatus (2n = 24) as the female parent and pubescent: L. coimbrensis (2n = 12) as the male parent was undertaken in an attempt to incorporate the indehiscent seed‐pod character of L. coimbrensis into the agronomically desirable L. corniculatus . The pollination of 2,498 flowers produced 13 putative hybrids exhibiting pubescence, a trait dominant in L. corniculatus . Also, pollen fertility was low in some of the hybrids. The somatic chromosome number of the putative hybrids was 24, general phenotypic appearance was similar to L. corniculatus except for the pubescence, and meiosis of the five offspring with the lowest pollen fertility was similar to that in L. corniculatus . Seed‐pod indehiscence was not observed. The four putative hybrids with the lowest pollen fertility were backcrossed to L. corniculatus . The presence of a high number of univalents in the backcross progenies supports the contention that interspecific hybridization was effected between L. corniculatus and L. coimbrensis .