Re: Maternal inheritance in iris
- To: i*@Rt66.com
- Subject: Re: Maternal inheritance in iris
- From: t*@Lanl.GOV (Tom Tadfor Little)
- Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 12:05:38 -0700
Rodney writes
:I know of a group of studies which demonstrate maternal inheritance in
:irises.
<snip>
: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".
Thanks very much for posting this; it's nice to read something on the
subject that is more than conjectural.
Of course, one would expect chloroplast DNA to be inherited maternally.
The question we'd really like some juicy info on is whether any genes
for horticulturally significant traits are inherited maternally. Leaf
variegation is a likely candidate, since it is inherited cytoplasmically
in related plants. But I think speculation about maternal inheritance
in flower characteristics is way out on a limb. The fuzzy area is with
things like vigor and size of the the vegetative growth. Call me old
fashioned, but I'm inclined to think nuclear DNA dominates these traits.
Happy irising, Tom.
===============================================================
Tom Tadfor Little tlittle@lanl.gov -or- telp@Rt66.com
technical writer/editor Los Alamos National Laboratory
---------------------------------------------------------------
Telperion Productions http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
===============================================================
