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Heterosis and Heterozygosis in Pearl Millet Forage Production 1
Author(s) -
Burton Glenn W.
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/cropsci1968.0011183x000800020028x
Subject(s) - biology , heterosis , forage , pennisetum , hybrid , agronomy , pearl , loss of heterozygosity , philosophy , theology , allele , biochemistry , gene
Well‐established inbred lines of pearl millet, Pennisetum typhoides , were used to develop seed lots with 0, 50, 75, and 100% heterozygosity. Total annual forage yields (three or four cuttings per year) from drilled plots of these seed lots in lattice‐square experiments supplied the data considered. In a 3‐year test, involving the four 'Gahi‐1' inbreds and their six possible F 1 's and F 2 's, the F 1 's and F 2 's produced 70.9 and 33.5% more forage than their inbred parents. In three other tests involving 36, 34, and 36 hybrids, relative average F 1 and F 2 yields exceeded the parent yields by 64.5 and 31.7; 53.2 and 28.6; and 73.1 and 35.6%, respectively. In another 2‐year study, where all possible seed lots with 0, 50, 75, and 100% heterozygosity were produced from four inbred lines, average relative forage yields for lots with 0, 50, 75, and 100% heterozygosity were 100.0, 122.0, 130.6, and 141.0, respectively. Thus, on the average, heterosis for forage yield in pearl millet closely paralleled the heterozygosis of the material tested.