The inheritance of flowering time in Trifolium subterraneum L

Abstract

The inheritance of flowering time in subterranean clover, using a number of strains and hybrids among them, was investigated on autumn-sown material at Canberra. Heterosis and dominance were not found, and genetic variation was polygenic. An F₁ diallel analysis and F₂ two-way analysis showed that approximately 90 per cent. of the total variance was attributable to additive genetic effects. An estimate of the repeatability of strain performance over two seasons showed that small but significant strain-year interactions were occurring. Strain repeatability, as measured by intraclass correlation, was 86 per cent. A breeding test involving F₂ selections and their progeny gave a mean parent-offspring regression of 0.86 over the six crosses studied, which is well in accord with expectations of breeding behaviour based on the above analyses. The results are discussed in relation to other studies on flowering time, especially with reference to the problem of interpreting results based on the threshold expression of a character dependent on the value of a continuously variable factor.