Ecker, R., Department of Ornamental Horticulture, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel
Barzilay, A., Department of Ornamental Horticulture, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel
Osherenko, E., Department of Ornamental Horticulture, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel

The inheritance and linkage relationships of a leaf morphology gene of Matthiola incana were investigated. The allele for sinuate leaf shape, c, was found to be recessive to the allele for normal entire leaf, C. The c allele was tightly linked to the recessive allele for double flowering, s. The recombination frequency between the two loci was close to zero. The mode of inheritance of the C gene was in accordance with the hypothesis that a pollen lethal gene is responsible for the constant 1:1 segregation ratio of double-flowered (= male sterile) to single-flowered (= fertile) plants in most M. incana breeding lines. The sinuate leaf allele seemed to reduce the frequency and delay the flowering of double-flowered plants. The importance of the C gene as a double flowering marker in the cultivation and the breeding of M. incana is discussed. © 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers.