Agronomy and Horticulture, Department of
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
1914
Citation
Science, New Series, Vol. 40, No. 1019 (Jul. 10, 1914), pp. 57-58
Abstract
Groth's preliminary note on the "golden mean" in the inheritance of sizes in SCIENCE of April 17, 1914, pp. 581-584, deserves the attention of geneticists. Its publication is of such recent date that I need only call attention to one or two points that seem to me of particular moment.
In brief, Groth's hypothesis is that the mode
of inheritance in Fl not only of surfaces and
volumes, but also of linear dimensions is to be
expressed by √ab rather than by a + b /2
where a and b are parent sizes. The hypothesis
is based upon measurements of a large
number of tomato fruits of parental and Fl
plants. It will certainly be worth determining
whether Groth's expression fits size characters
in other plants. A hurried examination of
data, both published and unpublished, derived
from my own studies of seed size in beans and
maize, indicates that Fl sizes are nearer the
average than the geometric mean of the parent
sizes. But my object now is not to lay stress
upon any possible agreement or disagreement
between my results and those of Groth. It is
rather with the relation of Groth's hypothesis
to the idea of multiple factors that I am here
concerned.
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Comments
Copyright 1914 R. A. Emerson