Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Chausseestr. 117, 10115, Berlin, Germany.
Mol Genet Genomics. 2009 Dec;282(6):587-93. doi: 10.1007/s00438-009-0488-9. Epub 2009 Sep 29.
Plastidial (pt) and mitochondrial (mt) genes usually show maternal inheritance. Non-Mendelian, biparental inheritance of plastids was first described by Baur (Z Indukt Abstamm Vererbungslehre 1:330-351, 1909) for crosses between Pelargonium cultivars. We have analyzed the inheritance of pt and mtDNA by examining the progeny from reciprocal crosses of Pelargonium zonale and P. inquinans using nucleotide sequence polymorphisms of selected pt and mt genes. Sequence analysis of the progeny revealed biparental inheritance of both pt and mtDNA. Hybrid plants exhibited variegation: our data demonstrate that the inquinans chloroplasts, but not the zonale chloroplasts bleach out, presumably due to incompatibility of the former with the hybrid nuclear genome. Different distribution of maternal and paternal sequences could be observed in different sectors of the same leaf, in different leaves of the same plant, and in different plants indicating random segregation and sorting-out of maternal and paternal plastids and mitochondria in the hybrids. The substantial transmission of both maternal and paternal mitochondria to the progeny turns Pelargonium into a particular interesting subject for studies on the inheritance, segregation and recombination of mt genes.
质体（pt）和线粒体（mt）基因通常表现为母系遗传。非孟德尔的、双亲遗传的质体最初是由 Baur（Z Indukt Abstamm Vererbungslehre 1:330-351, 1909）在 Pelargonium 品种之间的杂交中描述的。我们通过检查 Pelargonium zonale 和 P. inquinans 之间正反交后代的 pt 和 mtDNA 的遗传情况，利用选定的 pt 和 mt 基因的核苷酸序列多态性进行了分析。对后代的序列分析显示，pt 和 mtDNA 均表现出双亲遗传。杂种植物表现出斑驳现象：我们的数据表明，inquinans 的叶绿体而非 zonale 的叶绿体褪色，可能是由于前者与杂种核基因组不相容。在同一叶片的不同区域、同一植株的不同叶片以及不同植株中可以观察到母本和父本序列的不同分布，表明母本和父本质体和线粒体在杂种中的随机分离和分拣。大量的母本和父本线粒体传递给后代，使得 Pelargonium 成为研究 mt 基因遗传、分离和重组的特别有趣的对象。
