The lupin — ancient and modern crop plant

TLDR: The research project that brought Reinhold von Sengbusch early and permanent fame, i.e. the lupin, is discussed, which has become the classical example of successful domestication on the basis of simple Mendelian inheritance.

Abstract: * Lecture given on the occasion of awarding a honorary doctor's degree to Prof. Dr. R. von Sengbusch at the University of Giessen on November 25, 1983 What would be more suitable to discuss in a lecture in honour of Reinhold von Sengbusch than that research project that brought him early and permanent fame, i.e. the lupin. This crop plant brought him early fame because it was the first and most important of a series of plant species domesticated by him before World War II. It brought him permanent fame because it has become the classical example of successful domestication on the basis of simple Mendelian inheritance. This is evidenced in textbooks at home and abroad. At the same time, the alkaloidfree \"sweet\" lupins, which were selected for in the course of his early research work, ultimately proved to be one of the first experimental records of the \"law of homologous genes\" that was postulated by the Russian geneticist Vavilov a few years ago.