Origin of Sports Discussion


Dr. Zonneveld,
       The 'Amber Tiara' was indeed part of a tissue culture batch. It is a highly unstable cultivar producing a very large percentage of sports. It probably is the most prolific yet. Four of its sports are already registered, and I have another as does Carol Brashear. In addition to these periclinal forms, it produces a remarkable number of sectorials and mericlinals. I would guess that one division out of five will have a sport in it. The other two plants I saw twinspots in were not tissue cultured.
       Before this discussion moves on, we should address the other type of sport which in your third article in the AHS Journal you say is caused by mitotic recombination. This would be blue plants sporting to green. In another article, you state that a blue/green chimera is impossible, so we will stick to complete changes. Your example here is the group of all-green sports said to have come from 'Halcyon'. You state clearly that each is different from the other. I must remind you that little is actually known about the origin of these plants not even where they sported. Do you have information on the origins of these plants you could share with us? Because you chose them as examples for your "Rule of Thumb" I assume you must. Please fill us in. If blue plants do actually sport to green forms, why would this be mitotic recombination and not a nuclear mutation affecting the gene that controls the wax composition? 
       For the record, I should say that I have never seen a blue plant produce an all-green division. Has anyone else among those reading these posts?
                                                                                                    .......Bill Meyer


Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index