This study suggests that inheritance is not equally derived from both parents. We have heard rules-of-thumb such as “Use a pollen parent of the color you want” and “If the mother isn’t healthy, the children won’t be, regardless of how healthy the pollen parent is.” Maybe there is something to it?
A similar article?
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5bf5b4-us-genes-parents/
It’s the same study.
Hi Peter, very interesting article. No doubt there are contributions that seed parents bring that pollen parents don’t.
In humans and other animals with XX vs XY sex types, I wonder how the sex chromosomes themselves are part of the variation that is being seen in this article. That effect might be less in bisexual plants.
Incidentally, I more often set my crosses up with the cleaner parent being the pollen parent than the other way around. I wonder if I am doing the wrong thing!
Jim Sproul
“Use a pollen parent of the color you want”
How true is this in peoples’ collective experience?
I can’t offer my own comment about this, as this is my first season doing planned pollinations.
I would say that when you start throwing polyploidy into the equation it becomes less cut-and-dry.
As for me when possible I select the healthier stronger parent as seed bearer. It is more productive.
About this Sam McGredy said that the seed parent contribute more plant habit and pollen has more influence on flower.
So, maybe if I want to capitalise on species vigour (in crossing species with non-species), I should use species as seed parent. I would rather known this now, “early in the piece”.
Oh well, off to bed now, it’s nearly midnight!!
Mitochondrial DNA and chloroplast DNA are passed to seedlings from the mother but not the father. There aren’t many genes in mitochondrial DNA or chloroplast DNA, but they could cause differences in the seedlings depending on which parent was used as the mother and which as the father.
As the posted article discussed, some genes are activated or inactivated depending on whether they are inherited from the mother or the father. This is called gene imprinting and it was discovered about 10 years ago. It has been observed in both plants and animals. There have been many scientific articles published about gene imprinting in plants. Here are a few:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/xm56m15n40811529/
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=20186050
It now appears that genomic imprinting in plants operates mainly in the endosperm where it could have a great influence on seed growth and viability. One wouldn’t expect endosperm genes to have much effect on the phenotypes of mature seedlings, but perhaps they do. There might also be imprinted genes in the embryo that haven’t been discovered yet.
Other kinds of epigenetic inheritance have been reported in plants and some of these might also be specific to the parent-of-origin.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/f7382g0836n8377u/
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v447/n7143/abs/nature05917.html
A few years ago, I did a statistical analysis of fragrant roses’ ability to pass strong fragrance to their seedlings. I found that many roses produce more fragrant offspring when used as the seed parent, a few produce more fragrant offspring when used as the pollen parent, and a few give about the same number of fragrant offspring either way. For example, Chrysler Imperial gave more fragrant offspring when used as the seed parent, Lavender Pinocchio gave more fragrant offspring when used as the pollen parent, and Fragrant Cloud gave about the same percentage of fragrant offspring either way. There are many genes involved with fragrance. Perhaps some of those genes are more likely to be expressed when inherited from the father and others are more likely to be expressed when inherited from the mother.
Here is an example where not only genes from mom or dad can singly be swithed on or off, but an entire chromosome derived from mom or dad can be switched on or off!
In the normal human female for example, where there are two X chromosomes in every somatic cell nuclues (XX), one of these X chromosomes is always inherited from her mom, and one is always inherited from her dad.
Now, one entire X chromosome line (either the one from her mom or the one from her dad) will always remain inactivated from ever expressing itself throughout her lifetime…even though it is always present in every somatic cell nuclues. She will only express her mom’s X chromosome genes, or her dad’s X chromosome genes, never both. Which one gets switched on or off is pot luck!
“Now, one entire X chromosome line (either the one from her mom or the one from her dad) will always remain inactivated from ever expressing itself throughout her lifetime…even though it is always present in every somatic cell nuclues. She will only express her mom’s X chromosome genes, or her dad’s X chromosome genes, never both. Which one gets switched on or off is pot luck!”
Huh???
It’s true Simon, trust me lol
Are you talking about the formation of Barr Bodies in XX somatic cells?
Yes, this is part of the whole thing I was talking about. It is not much to do with roses, but heck that’s ok by virtue of the title of this thread, LOL…
ANYWAY, back to roses, I’m off to the local ‘R. Foliolosa’ thicket, to check it out, it is soo “purty”.
Yes another MAD rose day begins here for me…love it!..