INHERITANCE, GENETIC INTERACTION, AND BIOCHEMICAL-CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTHOCYANIN PHENOTYPES IN PEACH

The tissue- and organ-specific distribution of anthocyanins in different anthocyanin expression phenotypes of peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] is described, A fourfold increase in cyanidin-3-glucoside content was found in a red-flowered clone over that in a wild-type pink-flowered cultivar, Biochemical analysis of extracts of petals from the white-flowered clone Pillar revealed that the white-flowered phenotype results from a mutation late in the anthocyanin pathway, Crosses between three white-flowered cultivars confirmed that the white-flowered phenotype was allelic in the cultivars tested, Cosegregation analysis of the Gr (red leaf) and W (white flower) genes in three different F-2 families revealed that these genes segregate independently and demonstrate recessive-type epistatic interaction.