Inheritance of sex forms in Luffa acutangula Roxb

Abstract

Sex habit in plants is known to be controlled by genetic factors, although subject to environmental iluctuations. Poole and Grimball1, working on the inheritance of certain new sex forms in Cucumis melo, a member of the Cucurbitacese, have reported that the hermaphrodite form is genetically a double recessive to monoecious, and in F2 populations from crosses between them the following phenotypic ratio was obtained-9 monoecious : 3 andromoncecious : 3 gynomoncecious : 1 hermaphrodite. The gynomoncecious type was, however, susceptible to environmental fluctuation, giving rise occasionally to gynoecious and trimoncecious forms. On the basis of these results they have designated the several sex forms in their material as follows : monoecious (AG), andromoncecious (aG), gynomonoecious (Ag) and hermaphrodite (ag).