INHERITANCE, GENETIC INTERACTION, AND BIOCHEMICAL-CHARACTERIZATION OFANTHOCYANIN PHENOTYPES IN PEACH

The tissue- and organ-specific distribution of anthocyanins in differe nt anthocyanin expression phenotypes of peach [Prunus persica (L.) Bat sch] is described, A fourfold increase in cyanidin-3-glucoside content was found in a red-flowered clone over that in a wild-type pink-flowe red cultivar, Biochemical analysis of extracts of petals from the whit e-flowered clone Pillar revealed that the white-flowered phenotype res ults from a mutation late in the anthocyanin pathway, Crosses between three white-flowered cultivars confirmed that the white-flowered pheno type was allelic in the cultivars tested, Cosegregation analysis of th e Gr (red leaf) and W (white flower) genes in three different F-2 fami lies revealed that these genes segregate independently and demonstrate recessive-type epistatic interaction.