Crop Science Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education
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Published in Crop Sci 26:703-706 (1986)
© 1986 Crop Science Society of America
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
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Variation in Epicuticular Wax Content of Alfalfa Cultivars and Clones1

R. Galeano, M. D. Rumbaugh, D. A. Johnson and J. L. Bushnell2

Increased epicuticular wax per unit leaf area has been suggested as a potential mechanism for decreasing cuticular transpiration of plants and for reducing the incidence of bloat when ruminants graze legumes. The objectives of this study were to quantify the epicuticular wax content of some alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars and clones and to estimate the heritability of the trait. Epicuticular wax amounts were measured by extraction with carbon tetrachloride and gravimetric procedures in 28 cultivars and 100 clones of alfalfa during two harvest periods. The effects of cultivars, clones, sampling periods, test sites, and most of their interactions were statistically significant. Seasonal averages of epicuticular wax ranged from 4.62 to 8.82 g kg–1 among the cultivars and from 2.94 to 10.38 g kg–1 among the clones. Cultivar and clone rankings were quite consistent in the different environments. Broad sense heritability (H) of wax amount for the clones was 0.99, indicating that epicuticular wax of alfalfa could be increased by breeding and selection.

Key Words: Drought resistance • Heritability • Medicago sativa L. • Bloat • Tympanites

1 Contribution from the Utah State Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn. and USDA-ARS, Logan, UT 84322. Part of a thesis submitted by the senior author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.S. degree at Utah State Univ. Journal Paper no. 3178.

2 Assistant professor of plant breeding, Univ. Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras; research geneticist and research plant physiologist, USDA-ARS, Forage and Range Research, Utah State Univ., Logan, UT 84322-6300; and extension agronomist, Plant Science Dep., Utah State Univ., Logan, UT 84322-4800.

Received for publication November 1, 1985.




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Copyright © 1986 by the Crop Science Society of America.