Carotenoids of the Apricot Tomato and Its Hybrids with Yellow and Tangerine.

HE red color of the cultivated tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. is due to T the carotenoid lycopene. LEROSEN et al. (1941) and ZECHMEISTER et al. (1941) first analyzed the carotenoids of yellow (rr) and tangerine (tt) strains, each of which differs from the red by a single recessive gene. MACKINNEY and JENKINS (1952), JENKINS and MACKINNEY (1953), and TOMES et al. (1953) have examined the yellow-tangerine double recessive. LINCOLN and PORTER (1950) transferred from L. hirsutum a gene (B) , which, when homozygous in L. esculentum, resulted in a type described as beta orange. TOMES et al. (1953) reported further on hybrids involving beta orange. More recently TOMES and QUACKENBUSH (1953) have suggested that the intermediate appearance of the B+B heterozygotes is really due to the presence of a dominant inhibitor derived from the red-fruited parent. That is, B is completely dominant to its allele (B+) in cultivated tomatoes. MACKINNEY, RICK and JENKINS (1954) reported a gene similar to B in a variety of L. pimpinellifolium from the Galapagos Islands. In this paper we discuss the effects of a new recessive gene, apricot (at), which is involved in the biosynthesis of carotenoids. In particular, we describe the carotenoids of the apricot homozygote (atat) together with the two double recessives, yellowapricot (rr alat) and tangerine-apricot (tt atat).