Inheritance of Rest Period of Seeds in the Peanut


 SEED COAT COLOR
 Seed coat color of peanuts varies from the dark purple of
Porte Alegre through red, russet, and tan to nearly white in
White Pearl. Van der Stok, Badami, Stokes and Hull, and Hayes
have reported 3:1 ratios of red to russet or tan. Patel et al note
four colors, dark purple, red, rose, and white. They state,
"There are two duplicate factors for the rose colour. The factor
for red and the factor for purple are dominant to rose, but the
red and purple factors are expressed only in the presence of the
rose factor. The purple is dominant to red. The white seed
coat colour (pp rdrd rlrlr2r2) is recessive to the coloured seed
coats." The present study deals with russet and tan as they
occur in runner and Spanish peanuts. Patel apparently com-
bines those two colors as rose.
 The F2 and F3 plants in cross 1 x 14 and the F2 plants of
crosses 13 x 14, 3 x 8, and 13 x 8 were classified as having
russet, intermediate, or tan seeds. The proportions of inter-
mediates obtained were so small that they were finally combined
with the russet classes which had the greater numbers. Russet
is clearly dominant but the difference between russet and tan
is so slight that correct classification is not easily accomplished
in every case. Samples of parent strains of the same year's
crop were kept at hand while the classifications were made,
since the color gradually darkens after the seeds are harvested.
Seeds which were as light as the darkest variations of Spanish
parents were classed as tan while the others were finally all
classed as russet. The data are summarized in Table 9 and
compared with an hypothesis of single gene inheritance with
russet dominant, which they fit very closely.

 YELLOW SEEDLINGS
 Badami (1) reported triplicate gene inheritance of chlorophyll
in peanuts with the triple dominant dark green and the triple
recessive albino. The statement suggests that double and single
dominants were lighter colored than the triple. Patel et al (14)
found albinos in a ratio of 15:1 in F2 generations of bunch and
spreading varieties. The character is probably identical with
the one discussed here, and the constant deficiency of albinos
is very suggestive in connection with this report. Yellow seed-
lings in the present case were distinctly yellow rather than
albino. They were probably controlled by duplicate genes with