Inheritance of pollen color in hazelnut

In contrast to the yellow color of pollen of European hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivars, an unusual cream color was observed in some seedlings from self-pollination of the Sicilian cultivar ‘Montebello.’ After elimination of accidental outcrosses, the segregation fit a 3 yellow: 1 cream ratio, indicating the possibility of simple genetic control. Two seedlings with cream-colored pollen were backcrossed to their parent ‘Montebello,’ and the progeny segregated 1 yellow: 1 cream for pollen color. When two seedlings with cream-colored pollen were crossed with each other, all of the resulting seedlings had cream-colored pollen. These segregation ratios indicate that pollen color in hazelnut is controlled by a single locus with yellow dominant to cream color. The symbol pc is proposed for this locus. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.