INHERITANCE OF PEANUT TESTA COLORS INVOLVED IN MARKET ACCEPTABILITY

The only acceptable testa colors in the U.S. peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) market are tan, pink, and red. A better understanding of peanut te sta color genetics would be helpful to breeders in developing new cult ivars to meet these marketing parameters for human consumption. The ob jective of this study was to gain further knowledge on the inheritance of these very important testa colors. Six single crosses using three tan testa germplasm accessions (PI 203395, PI 203396, and PI 203397) a s female parents and two new peanut cultivars (Georgia Runner and Geor gia Browne) as male parents were made in 1989. Seed harvested from F-1 , F-2, and F-3 generations were classified during 1990, 1991, and 1992 , respectively, for testa color, and data were analyzed for goodness-o f-fit to expected genetic ratios. Testa color segregation fit a 15 tan + pink:1 red F-2 ratio, which confirmed a duplicate recessive loci mo del for red testa color. Genotypes, R(2)R(2)r(3)r(3) and r(2)r(2)R(3)R (3), are proposed for the three germplasm and the two Georgia parental peanut lines, respectively.