A study of plant color in crested wheatgrass, Agrophron cristatum (L.) Gaertn

Abstract

Chlorophyll mutants have been noted in many agricultural crops and have proved useful in inheritance studies. There have been few inheritance studies in the wheatgrasses, partly because of a lack of distinctive characters. The presence of grey-green and bright-green spike colors in diploid crested wheatgrass Agropyron cristatum (L.)

The frequencies of grey-green and bright-green plants in Fairway-type strains were noted and the inheritance determined from test crosses. An assessment was made to determine if spike color types were related to agronomic worth. This included an appraisal of heterozygous plants for heterosis effects. Preliminary observations were made of differences in chlorophyll pigments of the various color types.