Inheritance of two seedling characters in Sorghum almum Parodi, and cross pollination within S. almum and between S. almum and S. halepense (L) Pers.

Abstract

An albino seedling character in Sorghum almum Parodi was shown to be tetrasomically inherited. Segregation ratios for a pale green seedling character were very variable, and it is probable that more than one gene is involved.

With the albino seedling character as a marker gene, it was found that the average natural crossing in S. almum was approximately 54% at one location and 70% at another. The maximum natural crossing between S. almum and S. halepense (L.) Pers. was 57%, but the mean was only 20%. This may indicate that some S. almum plants exhibit a degree of genetic isolation from S. halepense when these species are grown together under natural conditions.