Outcrossing as an explanation of the apparent unconventional genetic behavior of Arabidopsis thaliana hth mutants

Abstract

The reappearance of HTH alleles in the offspring of homozygous Arabidopsis hth mutants is not consistent with classical Mendelian genetics. It has been suggested that stored RNA may be used to restore genetic information. However, Peng et al. reported that hth mutants tend to display outcrossing and suggested that outcrossing might provide an alternative explanation for the apparent genetic instability. We have confirmed and extended these results, corroborating that the apparent non-Mendelian behavior of hth mutants can be explained by their susceptibility to outcrossing. Copyright © 2008 by the Genetics Society of America.