An Alternative Analysis on Nilsson-Ehle’s Hybridization Experiment in Wheat —Theory of Dual Multiple Factors and Three Normal Distributions on Quantitative Inheritance (Continuation)

Abstract

In this paper, an analysis on Nilsson-Ehle’s hybridization experiment in wheat was done by means of self-fertilization method along with the pericarp inheritance. It showed that because seeds of wheat were coated with 2n tissues of mother’s body, the grain colors were determined by mother’s genotype. The color of the F 1 grains in this experiment was old red. The phenotypes of the F 2 grains were uniformly medium red and did not segregate. Grains in the F 3 generation segregated in the ratio 6 red (varying intensities of red) to 1 white with a definite probability respectively. This is the consequence of additive effect of 3 gene pairs and belongs to discrete distribution rather than continuous distribution. Therefore, the multiple-gene hypothesis based on this experiment cannot solve the continuous variations in inheritance of quantitative characters.