24. Transformation of rice stamens to extra glumes and its inheritance

In a cross involving rice varieties IR30 and Lalnakanda, the F\2\ generation exhibited interesting segregants bearing multiglumed florets. Plants with multiglumed florets bred true. The parents and F\1\ were normal. In the F\2\ there were 1027 normal plants and 112 with multiglumed florets. Although the segregation does not fit any particular ratio, a digenic control of the trait is suspected. Further studies are under way. Occasional variation in the number of extra glumes between and within the plants were observed and may be due to environmental effects.

The examination of the florets revealed that the increase in the number of extraglumes was related to the decrease in the number of stamens. The florets had two, four or six extra glumes. Transformation of stamens to petals is known to occur quite frequently in the members of the family Cannaceae and Zingiberaceae. Such phenomenon has also been observed in Brassica but has not been reported in rice.