Maternal inheritance in iris
- To: I*@Rt66.com
- Subject: Maternal inheritance in iris
- From: "* A* B* <r*@jove.acs.unt.edu>
- Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 12:24:30 -0600 (CST)
All,
Sorry for the lateness in this post, but IÕve just gotten around to
checking my references on the subject.
I know of a group of studies which demonstrate maternal inheritance in
irises. Michael Arnold in the Dept of Genetics at the Univ. of Georgia
studies inheritance in the hexagonae (Louisiana iris) series.
Specifically he is interested in the origins of I . nelsonii which is
thought to be a stable hybrid of I. fulva, I. giganticaerulea (aka I.
hexagona var. giganticaerulea) and possibly I. brevicaulis. He has used
a set of genetic (DNA) markers to demonstrate that I. nelsonii carries
genetic material from each of these three species and that the maternal
line is probably I. fulva.
The maternal line was traced using RFLP (restriction fragment length
polymorphism) analysis of a chloroplast gene. He has markers specific
for the chloroplasts for each of the three species which he tested. He
says they are "almost exclusively maternally inherited". His actual data
were unpublished at the time of the papers I have, so I donÕt know what
"almost" means. He also comments that maternal inheritance" has been
detected in the majority of, but not all, plant species".
This doesnÕt address whether the direction of an iris cross is important,
but does confirm maternally inheritance of chloroplast DNA in at least
one iris series.
Refs:
Arnold, et al (1991) Proc. NatÕl. Acad. Sci. 88, pp. 1398-1402
Arnold (1993) Am. Journal of Botany 85(5), pp. 577-583
Rodney in North Texas where my first bearded iris are blooming!
Rbarton@jove.acs.unt.edu
