Evidence of maternal effect on the inheritance of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) seed coat color

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the presence of maternal effect on the inheritance of flax seed coat color. Direct and reciprocal crosses were performed between four yellow flax seed lines and two brown flax seed cultivars. F1 and F2 populations of direct and reciprocal crosses were evaluated for coat color. Four F2 populations were selected for analysis of coat color in the F3 generation. The phenotypic segregation pattern was assessed by the chi-square test. The nuclear genotype of the female parent influenced all F1, F2, and F3 populations. F1 and F2 seeds were always equal to the phenotype of the female parent. F3 populations had a 3:1 ratio of plants producing yellow and brown seeds. The maternal effect resulted from the transfer of gene products from maternal cytoplasm to offspring, with evidence of the effect of a single gene with a dominant allele for the yellow phenotype.