Young, P. A.
Manalee tomato seed was treated with thermal neutrons for 4 hours (TGC 8:40). One selection of the R2-generation (GR1931D) produced 41 plants, of which 68.3% had normal forked leaflets while 31.7% had entire leaflets like those due to the e-allele (T.A.E.S.Bul. 698). All of the progeny of representative plants of this mutant type had nearly entire leaflets sometimes with short rounded or sharp lobes (G2009). Many of the young plants were late in developing top leaves.
This type had poor fruiting ability. A few plants produced some fruits with carpels exserted 1/2 to 1 inch from the blossom-end. Certain of the green fruits looked normal while they were small but they developed exserted carpels that emerged through cracks in the blossom-end before the fruits ripened. The core of the fruit was continuous with the core of the exserted carpels.
Seven crosses of G2009 X Hotset or CP1977 cannery tomato gave an F1- generation of which all of the plants had normal (e^+ -allele) leaflets. The F2-generation (G2052 to G2059) of 424 plants had normal forked leaflets on 75.5% of the plants and entire leaflets on 24.5% of the plants. This indicates a simple Mendelian segregation with entire leaflets as a recessive character. Until further studies can be conducted, it is proposed that the gene involved here be considered as identical with e, previously described for entire leaflets.
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* Technical article No. 3092 of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.