A mutant for condensed plant type in the inbred NY544
A mutant gene with a distinctive phenotype has been found in the inbred NY544. Mapping procedures are currently underway to determine linkage and allelism.
While not dwarf or brachytic, the plants are short, approximately 5 feet, and compact, with short upright leaves. The tassel is highly condensed with many short branches; the ears are small and roundish with a high row number (18-20) and small kernels giving them a high condensation index.
In crosses to 11 different inbreds the distinctive phenotype appeared in the F2 in a ratio of 179 normal to 58 mutants, a good fit to a 3:1 ratio, c2 = 0.3516, n.s. The c2 values for the 11 crosses ranged from 0 to .71, n.s. All the F2 plants having the recessive gene are quite similar in appearance. However, the progeny of one cross may be slightly taller than that of another, apparently due to modifiers for tallness in the outcross parents.
W. F. Tracy and H. L. Everett
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