Abstract

Few genes have been identified in red beet. A spontaneously occurring dwarf mutant was identified in the late 1970s and again in 1994 in several breeding populations. Mutant plants are characterized by extreme dwarfing of both root and shoot. Young leaves are narrow, thin and strap-like while older leaves are thicker and deeply veined. The shoot axis forms a compressed rosette. Neither the shoot axis nor the root axis of field-grown plants exceeds 3 cm in height. Genetic analysis of F2 and backcross populations revealed the dwarf phenotype is conditioned by a single recessive gene. Several experiments were conducted to determine if the dwarf phenotype was due to a lack of gibberellic acid (GA) production. Exogenous application of GA3 at concentrations ranging from 1 to 1000 ppm on dwarf plants a) following seeding and b) during reproductive growth revealed a linear increase in plant height. Control dwarf plants receiving a water-only treatment were 18% as tall as plants receiving regular application of 1000 ppm GA3. A wild-type phenotype during reproductive growth was recoverable following regular GA3 application.

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