Re: Selfing
Have you guys heard of linkage and crossing over of genes?? I believe,
ofcourse it is my opinion, there is linkage and crossing over of genes in
pumpkins. This helps diversify the species. Us growers have been slowy
picking and choosing which seeds to grow and alot of people will grow the
seeds that grow the big ones, then other people will grow seeds from them
and so forth...our selective breeding is depleteing the gene pool, less
diversity....so how on earth can we get pumpkins bigger and bigger every
year?? well, it could be the fact we have better growing techniques, which i
certainly think is a factor...but could that be the only factor with a
shrinking gene pool? no, there is probably linkage....ofcourse that is my
opinion.
Lets take it this way, alot of the pumpkins today are from the 827 holland,
567.5 mombert, and 935 lloyd lines.....and there are others in particular
too, but really most of the pumpkins today came from the same line of
pumpkins that howard dill developed....so how does that get us to todays
pumpkins?? well, linkage and crossing over of genes, bringing out recessive
traits and throwing squash genes into the mix.....i think those are main
factors with the genetics of todays pumpkins Even think about maybe even
throwing hybrid prizewinners in there(cross with a squash or something)??
Wouldn't it be intersting to get giant pumpkins that grow green at first
(like the little jack-o-lantern pumpkins) and then orange up when they are
maturing??
This is all opinion and i do not want any one to fude over it....i have a
bio class this semester in college and i am learning some things....don't
ask me to explain linkage, it is way too complicated....
but isn't it interesting to think how to got to today's pumpkins out of a
strain develped from howard dill?? Where did that color in the 567.5 line
come from(especially in the 801)? how about the wall thickness of the 935
lloyd line?
oh, and my opinion on selfing...well, i do not think that selfing
(inbreeding) effects the potential of the offspring of pumpkins at all for
some reason....because of all the different genetics in pumpkins, when you
self, there are many more combinations produced than what the genes were of
the mother plant....selfing pumpkins is not true breeding....
The willemse line is a great line to look at....i think a pumpkin from that
selfed line will be a parent of the next best seed...or will be one sometime
in the future. I am also trying an experiment so to speak, i want to
develope my own three lines of pumpkins (from various lines, probably
something from the 935 lloyd line, 825 shymanski line, and a squash line, i
have not got all that figured out yet) and then self them for 3-5
generations. then cross breed those three inbred lines, i wonder what would
come of that??
i am sure you could find the lethal or undesirable traits if you wanted to
in pumpkins, but that would take such a long time(15-20 years if not more).
i know some of you growers will think i am nuts, but i see things
differently than most(gentics wise anyway), i am young and still learning
and i believe in what i am taught from my professors.....they would not tell
me something that is not true(i hope they wouldn't anyway)...
Thanks for reading if you got this far...lol
Regards
Casey Neuville
Amherst Jct., WI
personal best-"Iris"~762lbs in 2000
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