Re: More Retro
- To: i*@egroups.com
- Subject: Re: More Retro
- From: r*@aol.com
- Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 23:57:09 EDT
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I suspect every budding hybridizer has the notion that everyone who
hybridized before him got the whole thing wrong and the clever hybridizer has
only to go back to the species and historicals and rework the genome to get
"it" right. As a matter of fact, the modern TB genome has a many many
characteristics not found in the species and historics. Some are true
mutations, some are unexpected dosage effects resulting from four sets of
chromosomes in genomes which where previously diploid, some are unintended
consequences of combining two genes never found in the same cell before. This
is not to say we might not still extract from little used species genes which
will dramatically change the look of the iris, but I suspect few hybridizers
are willing to look of hundreds or thousands of "dogs" in the off chance of
making such a discovery. I suspect even fewer would recognize a breakthrough
when he (or she) saw it. I wonder how many hybridizers would have discarded
Progenetor on maiden bloom! Paul Cook was a genius at his art and the
bearded iris owes more to him than any other single hybridizer of the 20th
century. It's a pity the top tall bearded iris award was not named for him.
Fred Kerr
Sacramento, CA
