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Published in Crop Sci 21:748-750 (1981)
© 1981 Crop Science Society of America
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Inheritance and Identification of a Carotenoid Pigment in Orange Alfalfa Roots1

M. A. Brick, D. K. Barnes and C. P. Vance2

An alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) plant with orange root tissue was observed while evaluating for root disease resistance. The mode of inheritance and chemical nature of the orange color was investigated. Crosses were made between the orange-rooted plant and a normal white-rooted plant to produce S1, F1, F2, and backcross generations. Chemical analysis of the orange root pigment was conducted to determine its character and concentration.

Genetic studies revealed that the orange root color was controlled by a single recessive gene (or) with tetrasomic inheritance. The orange root phenotype was expressed only in the nulliplex condition. Chemical analysis indicated that the pigment which conditioned the orange root color was poly-cis-lycopene. The orange-rooted genotype contained 107 ÷Mg/g fresh weight of the pigment in the root while the white-rooted genotype contained only a trace of total carotenoids In the root. The carotenoid types and concentrations in the foliage were similar for both white and orange-rooted phenotypes.

Key Words: Medicago sativa L. • Taproot • Carotenoid content • Tetrasomic inheritance

1 Joint contribution from the Minnesota Agric. Exp. Stn. and the USDA, ARS, Paper No. 11,578. Scientific Journal Series. Minnesota Agric. Ex. Stn. Part of a thesis submitted by the senior author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. Degree.

2 Assistant professor, Dep. of Agronomy, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO 80523 (formerly graduate research assistant, Dep. of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, Univ. of Minnesota): research geneticist and plant physiologist, USDA, SEA-AR in the Dep. of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108.

Received for publication January 5, 1981.




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