Chromosomal and extrachromosomal transmission of cellular melanization in the Freckled phenotype in Drosophila melanogaster.

Freckled (Frd) is a dominant mutant of D. melanogaster, lethal in double dose, which manifests itself by melanization in the adult stage, while nothing can be noticed in the larva and/or in the pupa. Its localization has been determined at nearly 102 of the second chromosome.Among the offspring from backcrosses involving Frd, some individuals that do not carry the Frd gene exhibit a weak Frd manifestation in the adult stage, or a stronger one, mostly lethal, in the larval or pupal stage. Weak Frd, indicated as [Frd], is transmitted indefinitely without any recognizable linkage with the chromosomes, although its frequency is influenced by the 1st and, probably, by the 3rd chromosome. No matroclinous transmission has been found. It is concluded that [Frd] is probably controlled by an extrachromosomal entity, not located in the cytoplasm. The possible relationships between Frd and [Frd] are discussed

Kanamycin resistance during in vitro development of pollen from transgenic tomato plants

Effects of kanamycin on pollen germination and tube growth of pollen from non-transformed plants and from transgenic tomato plants containing a chimaeric kanamycin resistance gene were determined. Germination of pollen was not affected by the addition of kanamycin to the medium in both genotypes. Kanamycin, however, severely affected tube growth of pollen from non-transformed plants, while pollen from plants containing the chimaeric gene were less sensitive and produced significantly longer tubes at kanamycin concentrations between 200-400 mg l-1. Apparently, this resistance for kanamycin correlates with the expression of the chimaeric gene during male gametophytic development.

Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) for pollen thermotolerance detected in maize

Pollen thermotolerance is an important component of the adaptability of crops to high temperature stress. The tolerance level of the different genotypes in a population of 45 maize recombinant inbred lines was determined as the degree of injury caused by high temperature to pollen germinability (IPGG) and pollen tube growth (IPTG) in an in vitro assay. Both traits revealed quantitative variability and high heritability. The traits were genetically dissected by the analysis of molecular markers using 184 mapped restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). Significant genetic correlation between the markers and the trait allowed us to identify a minimum number of five quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for IPGG and six QTLs for IPTG. Their chromosomal localization indicated that the two characters are controlled by different sets of genes. In addition, IPGG and IPTG were shown to be basically independent of the pollen germination ability and pollen tube growth rate under non-stress conditions. These results are discussed in relation to their possible utilization in a breeding strategy for the improvement of thermotolerance in maize

Quantitative expression of maize HSPs : genetic dissection and association with thermotolerance

In higher plants, within-species qualitative polymorphism for heat shock proteins (HSPs) is extremely rare, even between genotypes showing different heritable levels of thermotolerance. Here we have explored the amount of quantitative variability in HSP synthesis in maize. We have analyzed the quantitative expression of the typical HSPs in a set of recombinant inbreds (RIs) derived from the f1 hybrid between a thermotolerant (T232)- and a thermosensitive (CM37)-genotype, characterized for about 200 mapped RFLP loci. Significant differences were detected in the level of expression of five HSPs, and their frequency distribution in the RI population is that of a quantitative trait. Subsequent mapping of loci controlling the characters, based on RFLP analysis, confirmed the multigenic control of HSP expression: the regression analysis of the band intensities of each variant HSP on RFLPs revealed, for the different HSPs, a minimum number of three to eight quantitative trait loci (QTLs) accounting for a high proportion (0.35-0.60) of the genetic variability of these bands. An analysis of the correlation between the variability of HSPs and that of cellular membrane stability, a cellular component of thermotolerance, did not reveal any significant association of the two parameters