The inheritance of white fruit and stem color in summer squash Cucurbita pepo L.

Summary White fruited plants from the variety White bush were crossed to green and striped fruit in order to study the inheritance of white fruit in summer squash. The genetic ratio suggested that green fruit is controlled by two genes, C and R, and that one (C) has a dominant epistatic control. The white fruit is determined as ccrr. A third fruit color group appeared in the F₂, F₃ and BC₁, having white fruit after anthesis which changed to green during development. The genetic control for this fruit is suggested to be ccR..The green striped fruit showed a simple dominance (St) over the plain white.The dark stem of the Zucchini variety showed single gene dominance (D) over the light green stem.It was found that an association exists between the nonpersistent fruit color and dark green stem, and between white fruit and light green stem.Contribution from the Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research, Bet Dagan, Israel. 1968 Series; No. 1437E.