Inheritance of epidermis pigmentation in sunflower achenes

Abstract

Inheritance of epidermis pigmentation in the pericarp of sunflower seeds was studied. Inheritance of pigmentation was confirmed by three alleles Ew (epidermis devoid of pigmentation), Estr (epidermal pigmentation in strips), and Edg (solid pigmentation). Dominance of the lack of epidermis pigmentation over striped epidermis and striped epidermis over solid pigmentation was established. It was shown that the striped epidermis pigmentation and the presence of a testa layer are controlled by two genes, whose expression is independent from each other. Yellowish hypodermis was discovered in the sample I2K2218, which is monogenically dominantly inherited.