Limanthaceae

Abstract

In the variety nivea of this spreading branched yellow green herb, mst plants were detected from a natural population by Jain et al. (1978). They were characterised by the presence of white anthers and much shorter petals than mft plants and were thus easily distinguishable in the field. They were of two types: those with empty, small white anthers lacking PMC’s due to premeiotic sporogenous degeneration and those with yellow anthers possessing normal microspore tetrad development but exhibiting postmeiotic microspore degeneration leading to nonviable pollen production. The sterility in both types is conditioned by a single dominant gene. The role of the cytoplasm cannot be completely eliminated, keeping in view the segregations obtained and assuming a restorer gene segregating among the male parents of these families. Meadow foam represents a potential new crop (Jain et al. 1977) and outbreeding is promoted in many Limnanthes spp. by protandry. Due to the availability of the mst gene linked closely to or causing pleiotropically the formation of white anthers and short petals, the mst is useful in hybrid breeding of this genus, in which the recent discovery of unique biochemical properties of its seed oil, a potential substitute for sperm whale oil, has generated considerable interest in its domestication and improvement.