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Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'father'?
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Posted by whyveg_co_uk uk (My Page) on Tue, Nov 11, 03 at 12:37
| Hi,
does it make any difference which plant supplies the pollen and which the ovum? Will you get the same results either way?
Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'fathe
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| Yes. I do daylilies. The mother-pod parent is important, because some plants are pod infertile, but you can use their pollen. Some plant traits are only transfered by the pod parent-variegated leaves on daylily for example. Hostas are the same way with parentage being very important. |
RE: Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'fathe
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| If everything is normal, most people use the better seed producer as the mother. The exception would where a cross will go in only one direction (plant A doesn't accept pollen from plant B, but plant B does accept pollen from plant A). There are also rare cases where certain traits are transmitted only through the female's cytoplasm (such as cytoplasmic sterility). That would require the plant carrying that trait to be the mother if you want it to show up in the next generation. |
RE: Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'fathe
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| Good point about the pod infertility. I've seen pollen infertility as well, so sometimes you're forced to go in whatever direction the plants allow. |
RE: Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'fathe
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Its got nothing to do with plants, but I have read that the female donkey, male horse cross is not nearly as good a worker as the other direction (mule.)
Robert |
RE: Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'fathe
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- Posted by Vino zone 6 (My Page) on
Mon, Dec 8, 03 at 16:42
| This is a great topic....always wonder if it makes a difference.....It was mentioned that only the pod parent will pass on variegated leaves....does anyone know of other traits that can only be passed by pod parent... |
RE: Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'fathe
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It definatly makes a difference. I do daylilies too, and if you mix up the pod and pollen you are in big trouble. I am also of the belief that generally the pod gives the shape of the flower and the pollen the color.
Billy |
RE: Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'fathe
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| If I may throw other animals into the mix, with sheep it does indeed matter. The offspring appears to be more like the mother (ewe) than the sire (ram). |
RE: Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'fathe
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There are several reasons that it can matter which plant is seed parent and which is pollen parent.
As said above, some plants only produce pollen. Some only set seeds.
Some genes are carried only from seed parent. Varigation was mentioned in daylilies. In African violets, there are 2 (or more) genes for varigation. One is only via seed parent, the other is a simple recessive and must come from both pollen and seed parents.
In some sugarcane crosses, if the cross is made in one direction, the seedling is a normal hybrid, half the chromosomes of each parent. But if the reverse cross is made, the hybrids have ALL the chromosomes of the seed parent and half the chromosomes of the pollen parent.
Plants that are apomictic, i.e. set seeds asexually, sometimes have normal pollen.
Some genes are methylated (methyl alcohol molecules bonded to the gene and thus turned off) when making pollen, or sperm in animals. So the trait shows in the next generation if it is from the seed parent, but skips a generation if it is from the pollen parent.
In some interspecific peanut crosses, there is an effect from the direction of the cross. The differences fade over about 3 generations until it makes no diference which way the origional cross was made. Last I knew, no-one had a clue why.
In certain sunflower interspecific crosses, DNA studies have shown that the F1 has had as little as 4% of the pollen parent's DNA and all the seed parent's DNA. And these plants grew normally and were at least somewhat fertile. 25 years ago, when I was in grad school, things like this didn't get published. Well, the sugarcane thing was well documented and used routinely. ButMendalian genetics was known to explain everything and one could loose ones reputation trying to publish stuff like this.
Then once it was admitted that there were exceptions, the list of exceptions jsut poured in for a while. Now one final statement. These are all exceptions. Generally, it doesn't make much if any difference which way the crosses are made.
When reverse crosses do make a difference, then it is generally true that using the better parent as the seed parent turns out best. The reverse cross of a mule is a hinny. While the mule has been concideed the better work animal, the hinny has been concidered the better riding animal in medivial Europe. Today, mules are sometimes bred for riding in hills or for hunting in some parts of the USA. Hinnies aren't generally even tried.
Walter |
RE: Does it matter which plant is the 'mother' & which the 'fathe
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| Crosses of Tripsacum and Zea diploperennis give different results depending on which is the seed parent. Helianthus hybrids (diploids) tend to resemble the seed parent very strongly -- even exclusively -- though modern DNA analysis has proven that the pollen parent did participate a little. In the Rose family it is often easier to cross species with different chromosome numbers if the one with fewer chromosomes is used as the seed parent. And a rose breeder in the early 19th century noted that crosses of Chinas, Teas and Noisettes with Gallicas, Damasks and Centifolias tended to be more vigorous if the first group were the seed parents. He didn't know about chromosomes, of course, but it so happens that the first group are mostly diploids, while the second group are all tetraploids. Variegated geraniums crossed with green types give more variegated offspring when used as pollen parents. Mildew resistance in diploid strawberries (Fragaria vesca) is inherited from the seed parent (at least in one experiment). There are many examples, and almost as many reasons why reciprocal crosses give different results. |
Here is a link that might be useful: CybeRose
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