Inheritance studies in wild and cultivated 'Sesamum' L. species in Nigeria

Character differences were studied in crosses involving Sesamum indicum L. and S. radiatum L. Results show that inheritance of resistance to leaf curl disease and lodging was controlled by two independently assorting genes with both dominant alleles 'F' and 'L' producing plants that are resistant to leaf curl disease and lodging, while their recessive alleles 'f' and 'l' produced plants that are not resistant to leaf curl disease and lodging, respectively. From both morphological and genetic evidence, it is proposed that the cultivated S. indicum was derived from the wild S. radiatum through gene mutation and that both species were conspecific. (C) 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.