The genetic control of highly restricted branching in narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.)

Most current cultivars of narrow-leafed lupin have an indeterminate growth habit such that vegetative growth continues while the pods are being filled, causing strong intra-plant competition for assimilates. Restricted-branching (RB) genotypes can reduce this tendency and raise the proportion of the plant's biomass going into grain. Studies on the inheritance of the RB trait showed that two spontaneous mutants, P25598 and P21227, each carried a single incompletely dominant allele conferring the trait, whereas two other spontaneous mutants, P24743 and P25582, and two induced mutants, P26021 and P21238, each carried a single recessive allele conferring the trait. The RB alleles present in P26021 and P21238 seem to be the same, and to be at the same locus as (or tightly linked to) the allele controlling the RB trait in P21227. Similarly, the genes present in P21227 and the induced mutant P25735 appear to be the same when these lines are crossed. However, they do not behave the same in crosses with P26021: thus we propose that there are at least three alleles at the same locus (or at tightly linked loci) that confer RB. Normal-branching plants that are heterozygous at an RB locus generally have fewer leaves on the uppermost branch than homozygous-normal plants. Similarly, RB plants that are heterozygous generally have fewer branchless nodes on the main stem than homozygous-RB plants. The RB trait is associated with a small but significant reduction in the number of leaves on the main stem. However, this relationship is weak and will not prevent plant breeders from selecting both early- and late-flowering RB genotypes. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.