The anthocyanin plant colors and yield in corn
1934
Brink, R.A.
Following a preliminary test in 1932, a trial was made in 1933 of the relative yielding capacity of corn of four different anthocyanin plant colors, namely, dilute sun red, which characterizes most of the present varieties of economic importance, sun red, dilute purple, and purple. The stocks were bred so that all four color classes occurred with approximately equal numbers in each of the 11 families from which the data were taken. Except for the genes closely linked with the color factors themselves, it may be supposed that the residual inheritance, on the average, was the same for each color class. Three-quarters of the residual inheritance came from selfed strains derived from dent corn varieties adapted to the region of Madison, Wisconsin. The average dry weight of ears in pounds per plant for the four classes were as follows: Purple, .433 +/- .0085; dilute purple, .561 +/- .0110; sun red, .569 +/- .0111; and dilute sun red, .511 +/- .0100. Taking the dilute sun red class as the standard, the purple type is clearly inferior. Dilute purple and sun red, on the other hand, showed increases in yield over the standard class which may be adjudged statistically significant, the differences being 3.35 and 3.85 times their respective probable errors. Final conclusions regarding the significance of the anthocyanin plant colors in corn improvement, however, must await the results of trials representative of a wider range, not only of soil and climatic conditions, but also of back-grounds of residual heredity.
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