Absence of Dominance of the B Gene in Influencing β-Glucosidase Activity in Melilotus alba

Authors

Francis A. Haskins, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Herman J. Gorz, United State Department of Agriculture

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

5-1965

Comments

Published in Genetics (May 1965) 51 : 733-738.

Abstract

In sweetclover (Melilotus alba Desr.) the allelic pair designated B/b was originally thought to be concerned with coumarin biosynthesis. Extracts of BB plants were reported to contain substantial amounts of both free and bound coumarin, while extracts of bb plants contained only bound coumarin (Goplen, Greenshields and Baenzinger 1957; Haskins and Gorz 1957), more recently identified as coumarinic acid glucoside (β-D-glucosyl-cis-o-hydroxycinnamic acid) (Kosuge 1961; Stoker and Bellis 1962). The bound-coumarin character behaved as a simple recessive in crosses between bb and BB plants (Goplen, Greenshields and Baenzinger 1957).