'Plant Breeding: Sustaining the Future' Abstracts of the XVIth EUCARPIA Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland, 10-14 September 2001 INHERITANCE OF FLOWER COLOUR IN SWEET PEAS (LATHYRUS ODORATUS L.) G.D. LEVKO  All-Russia Research Institute of Vegetable Plant Breeding and Seed Production (VNIISSOK), Russia, Moscow Reg., Post Box "Lesnoy Gorodok", 143080

During six years (1995-2000) the inheritance of flower colour and other decorative morphological characters were studied on sweet peas. In addition 9 genes (C, R, Sm 1, Sm, E – anthocyanin genes and K, Q1, Q2, N – flavonol genes) postulated early, which controlled pigmentation in flowers was estimated some more 3 genes. Results have been showed that each of them almost completely blocked the anthocyanidins formation of delphynidin type, of cyanidin type and pelargonidin accordingly. Pigments were extracted from petals and analyzed by paper chromatography in Forestal-system according to Rat'kin A.V. (2000). Cultivars Selectzvet and Galina with cherry-chocolade and blue-violet flower colour have been contain delphynidin, petunidin and malvidin; cvs Alisa, Floriada and Termezye with pink, carmine and bicolour – pink and white – have been contain cyanidin and peonidin; cvs Vera and Ronnie with scarlet-red and orange-red flower colour – have been contain pelargonidin. Cv. Creamona with cream flowers and cv. Knee-Hi with white flowers has not been contain anthocyanidin – pigments, but only flavonol (quercetin and caemppherol) pigments.