Quantitative inheritance and barriers to crossability in Cicer arietinum L

Three different diallel crosses were studied in Cicer arietinum; two of size 6×6, one within each of the two botanical groups 'macrosperma' and 'microsperma' of the cultivated subspecies, and one of 9×9 involving lines covering most of the morphological variation of chickpea. Barriers to crossability present neither a botanical nor a geographical pattern, being probably a direct consequence of interactions between genotypes. The genetic systems of twelve quantitative characters were analysed. Full dominance in a negative sense (small values dominant) is shown by leaflet length, width and shape index, rachis length, leaflet density on the rachis and pod length. Full dominance in a positive sense is shown by seeds per pod. Overdominance (in a positive sense) is evident for pods, seeds and yield per plant. Weak reciprocal differences were manifested by pod length, and pods, seeds and yield per plant. The system controlling number of leaflets per leaf is not clear. Dominance of 'primitive' over 'selected' characters seems to be the rule. As far as the environmental effects have permitted the analysis, no differences in genetic systems were observed between botanical groups.