Inheritance of Leaf Blotch, Spot, and Stripe in Coleus

Coleus [Solenostemon scutellariodes (L.) Codd.], with various leaf variegations and colors, can be used extensively for landscaping and decoration. Crosses between cultivars were conducted to understand leaf blotch, spot and stripe inheritance. Progeny from crossing purple-blotched cultivars resulted in a 1:0 or 3:1 ratio (blotched: non-blotched). Crossing non-blotched individuals produced all non-blotched progeny, and cross blotched cultivars with non-blotched cultivars produced all blotched progenies. These results indicated that purple-blotched characteristic was controlled by a single locus, while blotch (B) is dominant to non-blotch (b). Selfing scattering spotted cultivars resulted in a 3:1 ratio (spotted: non-spotted) plants. Crossing between non-spot cultivars produced all non-spot plants, and crossing between spot and non-spot cultivar segregated in a 1:1 (spotted: non-spotted) ratio. This suggested that scattering spotted characteristic was controlled by a single locus, while scattering spot (S) is dominant to non-spot (s). Progeny from crosses between midrib-striped cultivars segregated in a 1:0 or 3:1 ratio (stripe: non-stripe), while those from crossing between non-striped cultivars all produced leaves without any stripe. Progeny of crossing between midrib-striped cultivars and non-striped cultivars resulted in a 1:1 ratio (stripe: non-stripe). These suggested that midrib-striped trait was governed by a single locus, and midrib stripe (M) is dominant to non-stripe (m).