Genetics of colour traits in common vetch (Vicia sativa L.)

Five parents of common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) having orange/beige cotyledon colour, brown/white testa colour, purple/green seedling colour and purple/white flower colour were crossed as a full diallele set. The inheritance patterns of cotyledon, testa or seed coat colour, flower and seedling colour, were studied by analyzing their F-1, F-2, BC1 and BC2 generations. The segregation pattern in F-2, BC1 and BC2, showed that cotyledon colour was governed by a single gene with incomplete dominance and it is proposed that cotyledon colour is controlled by two allelic genes, which have been designated Ct(1) and Ct(2). Testa colour was governed by a single gene with the brown allele dominant and the recessive allele white. This gene has been given the symbol H. Two complementary genes governed both flower and seedling colours. These flower and seedling colour genes are pleiotropic and the two genes have been given the symbols S and F.