Inheritance of plant height in the dwarf mutant 'Enana' of safflower

The dwarf safflower mutant 'Enana' has been developed from the cultivar 'Ra ncho' by chemical mutagenesis. The objective of the present research was to study the inheritance of plant height in crosses between 'Enana' and 'Ranc ho'. Plants of both lines were reciprocally crossed and the F-1, F-2 and F- 3 generations were obtained. The evaluation of plant height in the F-2 gene ration suggested the presence of a single locus controlling this trait. Thi s was confirmed after the evaluation of 164 F-2:3 lines, which revealed an F-2 segregation fitting a 1:2:1 (dwarf: intermediate: standard) ratio. The locus was designated D-w. As the mutated allele was partly dominant over th e wild-type allele, the proposed genotype for 'Rancho' was d(w) d(w), where as that for 'Enana' was D-w D-w. Furthermore, a partial cytoplasmic effect on plant height was detected, with the heterozygote D-w d(w) being about 6 cm taller when 'Rancho' was used as female.