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Inheritance of Dry Matter Digestibility in Bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. 1
Author(s) -
Burton Glenn W.,
Monson Warren G.
Publication year - 1972
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/cropsci1972.0011183x001200030036x
Subject(s) - cynodon dactylon , biology , cynodon , hybrid , forage , dry matter , dominance (genetics) , agronomy , zoology , botany , gene , biochemistry
Heritabilities were estimated for dry matter digestibilities (DMD) of forage samples. The samples were collected from 5 to 11 harvests, of 148 germudagrass ( Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.) selections and F 1 hybrids evaluated in three clipping tests from 1962 to 1969. DMD was measured by the nylon bag or in vitro techniques. Heritabilities for a seasonal average of two to four clippings ranged from .27 to .69 indicating that the DMD of bermudagrass can be increased by breeding. F 2 hybrids between ‘Coastal’ bermuda and high or low DMD parents had average DMDs similar to the mean DMDs of the two parents. F 2 hybrids between ‘Midland’ bermuda and ‘Kenya 61’ had average DMD values 1.8 to 2.8 percentage points lower than the parental average. In most hybrid populations, the best F 1 was nearly equal if not superior to its best parent in DMD. The two‐year average IVDMDs of 5‐week‐old second‐harvest forage samples taken from a world collection of over 500 bermudagrasses ranged from 40 to 69%. DMD in bermudagrass appears to be conditioned by a number of genes that exhibit little if any dominance. Additional index words: