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Inheritance of Heat-Induced Brown Discoloration in Seed Coats of Cowpea

Dep. of Botany and Plant Sciences, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521

^* Corresponding author.

Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] accession TVu 4552 useful in breeding programs as a donor of heat tolerance during flowering. Unfortunately, seed coats of TVu 4552 and some other cowpea strains (e.g. ‘TVx 3236’) develop a pronounced brown discoloration when the plants are grown under hot air temperatures. The browning is intraceilular and confined to the seed coat. It does not influence germination, but it makes the grain less desirable to consumers. Inheritance of browning was studied in crosses of TVu 4552 with ‘California Blackeye #5’ (white seed coat, blackeye), ‘Bambey 21’ (white seed coat, no eye), and PI 204647 (kaiser brown seed coat, no eye) whose seed coat colors were not affected by high air temperatures. Segregation for seed coat browning was determined by observing the frequency of plants that produced at least some seeds with some brown discoloration, and plants for which all seeds had normal seed coat color. Analysis of F₁, F₂, F₃, and backcross progenies showed that the seed coat browning reaction is dominant to normal seed coat color and governed by a single nuclear gene. It is suggested that this gene be designated as Hbs. No linkage was observed between Hbs-controlled seed coat browning and the gene governing heat tolerance during floral bud development in TVu 4552. Similarly, no apparent association was observed between the development of normal brown seed coat pigmentation in PI 204647 and heat-induced brown seed coat discoloration controlled by Hbs.

Received for publication January 8, 1988.