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Inbreeding Medicago sativa L. by Selfing, Sib-mating, and Intergenerational Crossing¹

Sib-mating and intergenerational crossing were compared with selfing as methods for inbreeding alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Fertility (seeds/flower) relative to the noninbred parents was not greatly different for selfed and sib-mated progenies at comparable levels of inbreeding. Fertility relative to the inbreeding coefficient usually was greatest for the intergenerational cross progenies. Differences in fertility among reciprocal crosses were small in all sib-matings and in the intergenerational crosses when both parents were inbred. Fertility was greater when the less-inbred line was mated as the female parent, however, and it was significantly greater when the female parent was not inbred. These results indicate that selfing for one or two generations followed by sib-mating or intergenerational crossing to a noninbred parent, together with strong selection for fertility, may have merit as a procedure for the development of inbred lines of alfalfa.

Key Words: Fertility • Autotetraphoid • Alfalfa

² Formerly Research Associate (now Assistant Professor, Department of Agriculture, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois), Professor (deceased), and Professor, Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50010.

Received for publication June 5, 1971.