Abstract
The presence of glandular trichomes may protect alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) against certain stem-, leaf-, and fruit-eating insect pests. In order to determine appropriate breeding methods to select for this trait, this study characterized quantitative genetic parameters of erect glandular trichome density in `KS94GH6' diploid (2n=2x=16) alfalfa. Eight female and five male plants were crossed in a Design II mating to produce 40 full-sib families. Glandular trichome density was determined on these families under replicated greenhouse conditions in Las Cruces and Los Lunas, New Mexico, U.S.A. The effect of males was significant (p≤ 0.10) across the two environments. Variation among females was not significant within either location or across locations. The dominance genetic variance (σ2 D = 0.210) was greater than the additive genetic variance (σ2 A = 0.111). The average degree of dominance exceeded a value of `1' indicating that erect glandular trichome density in KS94GH6 may be influenced by digenic epistasis, and/or repulsion phase linkage disequilibrium. The large contribution of non-additiveeffects was reflected by a low narrow-sense heritability estimate (h 2 n = 0.25). The results indicate that further improvements in erect glandular trichome density in KS94GH6 alfalfa will require replicated progeny testing. Approaches to introgress this trait into cultivated tetraploid alfalfa are discussed.
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González-García, J., Ray, I., Henning, J. et al. Quantitative genetic analysis of erect glandular trichome density in diploid alfalfa. Euphytica 111, 61–65 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003785010499
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003785010499