pnut pnut Peanut Science 0095-3679 0095-3679 American Peanut Research and Education Society 10.3146/i0095-3679-4-1-1 Articles Inheritance of Dry Matter Deposition and Free Arginine Level in Maturing Peanuts, Arachis hypogaea L Peter Y. P. Tai and Clyde T. Young

1Contribution of the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Experiment Station, Experiment, Georgia 30212.

2Instructor, Department of Agronomy, Coastal Plain Station, Tifton, Georgia 31794, and Associate Professor, Department of Food Science, Georgia Station, Experiment, Georgia 30212.

 1 1977 1 1977 4 1 1 6 American Peanut Research and Education Society 1977 American Peanut Research and Education Society Abstract

Nine F2 families from crosses among six peanut cultivars and breeding lines were used to investigate the inheritance of dry matter deposition and free arginine as a parameter of maturity. Results indicated that dry matter was a quantitative character governed by multiple genes, whereas free arginine level seemed to be controlled by two major genes with partial dominance for the low arginine character. Marked transgressive segregation of F2 families below the lower dry matter parents and above the higher arginine parents was found in most of the nine crosses of various genotypes. Broad sense heritabilities were lower for the dry matter (38 to 78%) than for the level of arginine (60% to 93%). The higher broadsense heritability of the free arginine level in these peanut cultivars examined lends theoretical support to the use of the arginine maturity index (AMI) as a measure of maturation. Correlation coefficients between dry matter and AMI varied from − .198 to − .946.