THE MISSING PETAL CHARACTER IN OENOTHERA AND ITS RELATION TO THE CRUCIATE CHARACTER

Abstract

Two characters are known in Oenothera which show inconstancy of behavior resulting in phenotypic mosaicism. These are absence of petals mp and cruciate petals cr. The latter character has been studied intensively by Oehlkers and Renner. The former is discussed here for the first time. The missing petal character exhibits mosaicism in essentially all cases. Flowers with four, three, two, one, or no petals may appear on the same plant on the same day. Where petals are present, they occupy normal positions and are usually normal in size and shape; where absent, no primordia are produced. It is suggested that the cr character is not based on a highly mutable locus (Oehlkers) or on one in which gene conversion occurs (Renner), but is the result of a mutant gene at a locus basic to the development of sepals which is. capable, under certain conditions, of functioning not only in the sepals, but also in cells of petal primordia, thereby suppressing genes for petal development. The sepaloid tissue which it produces in the petal is much more complex than, the petaloid tissue which it suppresses. The mp locus is basic to the initiation of petals; mp is a mutant gene with reduced potency. Whether it is able to function depends upon the cellular environment in which it finds itself. In both cases mosaicism is the result, not of frequently recurring alteration in genic structure, but of regulation of gene action based on variations in the cellular milieu.