National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, IARI Campus, New Delhi-110 012
2Late, Head of the Division of Plant Introduction, IARI, New Delhi.
3Division of Veg. & Floric, IARI, New Delhi.
1Part of thesis submitted by B. S. Dabas for Ph. D. Degree of P. G. School, IARI, New Delhi.
The present investigation was undertaken to study the genetic make up of endosperm percentage and gum content in guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L) Taub]. Gene mechanism for inheritance of endosperm and gum content are discussed. Different gene effects were observed in different crosses. It was noted that additive, dominance and epistatic effects were operating for both the characters in two crosses, namely, (Pusa Navbahar × IC 11521) and (IC 11750 × PLG 605). In the third cross (IC 43 × IC 642) presence of epistasis was found for gum content only, while it was absent for endosperm percentage. In general, additive gene effects were found to be greater than dominance for endosperm percentage, which indicated that it could be easily fixed. This investigation suggested the desirability of choosing genetically diverse parents in a hybridization programme for improvement in endosperm content which would ultimately lead to high gum content in guar.
