Evidence for simple genetic control of a fruit-colour polymorphism in Acacia ligulata
Kenneth D. WhitneyA Center for Population Biology and Section of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, USA.
B Address for correspondence: Department of Biology, Jordan Hall 142, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405-3700, USA. Email: kdwhitne@indiana.edu
Australian Journal of Botany 53(4) 363-366 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT04157
Submitted: 4 October 2004 Accepted: 1 February 2005 Published: 24 June 2005
Abstract
Fruit-colour polymorphisms are common in nature, but their genetic bases have rarely been examined in wild species. Here, I report on controlled crosses in Acacia ligulata A.Cunn. ex Benth., an Australian arid-zone shrub with a red–yellow–orange aril colour polymorphism. The evidence is consistent with 1-locus, 2-allele control of red v. yellow phenotypes; these phenotypes comprise 98.7% of the adult plants in nature. At this proposed r locus, yellow is dominant to red. Evidence concerning the rare orange morph is limited, but is consistent with models in which orange is produced by either (a) a third allele at the r locus or (b) modification by a second locus. Simple genetic architecture for ecologically relevant traits, such as fruit colour, should aid in linking ecological processes such as frugivory and seed dispersal to the evolutionary trajectories of plant populations.
Acknowledgments
For support and help of many kinds, many thanks go to Tony Auld, Rick Taylor, Josh Bean, Andrew Denham and Mark Ooi of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. For assistance in pollination and seed collection, I thank Carolyn Menke and Kerryn Herman. Doug Walker, Tim Metcalf, Ernesto Sandoval and Minh Nguyen provided greenhouse support. Thanks go to Eric Baack, Jennifer Rudgers, Maureen Stanton and Jared Strasburg for good advice and helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the Center for Population Biology (UC Davis) and an EPA STAR Fellowship.
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