The Inheritance of Coumarin in Sweet Clover

Abstract

The inheritance of coumarin in white blossom sweet clover was determined from a study of crosses involving plants of the variety Arctic (containing free coumarin). Pioneer (containing bound coumarin), and coumarin-deficient selections. Both a flurometric and a colorimeter test were used to detect the presence and type of coumarin.Among high-coumarin plants, variation in the amount of coumarin was due to non-heritable causes or genetic factors not detected in this study. The cross of free-coumarin × bound-coumarin plants established that the bound-coumarin character was inherited as a simple recessive. The gene symbol b is proposed for this character. In the crosses of high-coumarin × coumarin-deficient plants the F1 progeny were more or less intermediate in coumarin content and the subsequent F2 established that coumarin production is governed by one partially dominant gene. The symbol Cu is proposed for this gene. The gene B, responsible for the free-coumarin production, expresses itself only in the presence of Cu and is undetectable in a coumarin-deficient plant homozygous for cu. Some atypical unexplained F2 ratios are reported.

Absence of Dominance of the Cu Gene in Influencing o‐Hydroxycinnamic Acid Content in Melilotus alba 1

“…The partial dominance of cu is in apparent disagreement with the results of other studies in which F2 ratios of three high-coumarin to one low-coumarin have been reported (3,9). This disagreement is readily understood when one considers that the £luorometric procedure for the detection of o-hydroxycinnamic acid is so sensitive that, in a qualitative test, the levels of o-hydroxycinnamic acid occurring in Cucu plants may be classified as high.…”

Transcriptomic profiling of Melilotus albus near-isogenic lines contrasting for coumarin content

“…Goplen et al . 44 studied the influence of two pairs of alleles, Cu/cu and B/b, upon the level and form of coumarin in M. albus . This study suggested that Cu/cu alleles determine high or low levels of coumarin and that the B/b alleles influence the form and type of coumarin 44 .…”

Occurrence of о‐Hydroxycinnamic Acid in Species of Melilotus and Trigonella1

“…ulb« the lowcoumarin character of M. dentata. and genetic studies by Gorlen et al (2) demonstrated that this character is governed by a single pair of alleles, designated Culm. The ell gene is the basis for the low-coumarin varieties, Cumino and Denta.…”