Abstract
Crosses between plants at different ploidy levels will often result in failure of endosperm development. The basis of this phenomenon has been attributed to parental gene imprinting of genes involved with endosperm development but a review of the data from maize indicates a dosage interaction between the contributions of the female gametophyte and the primary endosperm nucleus to early endosperm development. However, it is noted that parental imprinting is a non-mutational means that can alter dosage sensitive factors and therefore can contribute to this effect. Operationally, the genes determining ploidy hybridization barrier would qualify for Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibilities that prevent gene flow between species.
Highlights
Crosses between plants at different ploidy levels will often result in failure of endosperm development.The basis of this phenomenon has been attributed to parental gene imprinting of genes involved with endosperm development but a review of the data from maize indicates a dosage interaction between the contributions of the female gametophyte and the primary endosperm nucleus to early endosperm development
Imprinting has been attributed to endosperm size factors that are found when chromosomal segments are missing from the sperm (Lin, 1982); we revisit this interpretation below
Endosperm size factors refer to the situation that occurs with some translocations between the supernumerary B chromosome and normal A chromosomal segments in maize (Birchler and Hart, 1987)
Summary
Crosses between plants at different ploidy levels will often result in failure of endosperm development.The basis of this phenomenon has been attributed to parental gene imprinting of genes involved with endosperm development but a review of the data from maize indicates a dosage interaction between the contributions of the female gametophyte and the primary endosperm nucleus to early endosperm development. The argument that this small kernel effect is a reflection of imprinting was that for 10L, introduction of extra copies through the female parent was not observed to have any effect nor could it rescue the absence of the paternal copy (Lin, 1982).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
