A mixed model for the effects of single gene, polygenes and their interaction on quantitative traits : 1. The model and experimental design.

A model for the effects of single gene (SG), polygenes (PG) and their interaction on quantitative traits was developed. It is a mixed model where the SG is a fixed effect and the PG is a random effect. A two-way factorial experiment, in which the SG and the PG are the main effects, is proposed. The experimental material is comprised of F3 families derived from F2 plants heterozygous for the SG. For this experiment an ANOVA table with expected mean square is proposed, which facilitates estimation of the components of the model and testing of their significance. A detailed method for the interpretation of results from such an experiment is proposed, with emphasis on the analysis of the SG × PG interaction. Theoretical and applied aspects of SG × PG interaction is discussed.