Vol. 112 (1999): Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society
Handling & Processing

Inheritance of Berry Size, Color and Flower Sex in Muscadine Grapes

Zhongbo Ren
Center for Viticulture Florida A&M University Tallahassee, FL 32307
Jiang Lu
Center for Viticulture Florida A&M University Tallahassee, FL 32307

Published 1999-12-01

Abstract

Sixty-five F1 hybrids from Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia) cv 'Summit' x 'Noble' were analyzed for the inheritance of flower sex, berry size and color. The segregation of flower sex followed the 1:1 Mendelian single gene ratio in perfect: female flowers. The color segregation followed 2:1:1 Mendelian ratio in black: red: bronze. These data indicate that the berry color is controlled by 2 pairs of independent genes. Berry size in 90% of the hybrids was confined within the size of their parents. Among those that were larger than parents, 85.7% were female flowers. This suggested that a large number of hybrids are necessary in order to select large fruited individuals with perfect flower in such a cross combination.