HYB: Broken Color Seedlings
From: Sharon McAllister <73372.1745@compuserve.com>
Message text written by Cindy Rust:
>
Okay, Sharon, now I will ask you a really dumb question. Why do you want
to
cross quarterbreds (isn't there a fertility problem with them?) with
tetraploid arils? Why is a quarterbred the best thing to use?
<
That is NOT a dumb question. [Single word capitalized for emphasis, not
shouting the whole sermon.]
Quarterbreds are relatively infertile because they are unbalanced
tetraploids [three sets of TB chromosomes and one set of aril]. Before
arilbreds were defined as being at least 1/4 aril, quarterbreds were often
crossed with TBs -- and some nice garden subjects were produced that way.
The quarterbred X halfbred cross can produce either parental type. [Sound
of muttering in the background 'here we go on chromosome conjugation
again'.] So even though a quarterbred is less fertile than the typical
halfbred, they can produce fully fertile offspring.
When quarterbreds are crossed with tetraploid arils, the progeny can in
theory be either 1/2-breds or 3/4-breds -- but I've found a strong tendency
toward fully fertile halfbreds. I've obtained a much higher success rate
using quarterbreds with my tetraploid arils than merely crossing the arils
straight to TBs, both in terms of the number of seedlings and the overall
quality.
Sharon McAllister
73372.1745@compuserve.com
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