By using both the a-ruq and the c-ruq reporter alleles, we have demonstrated that none of the maize inbreds B70, C103, C123 and 187-2 contains an active Uq element in its genome (MNL 60:5-6; 61:5). On the other hand, activation of a quiescent Uq element has been observed as a sector of a-ruq/Uq spotting in the aleurone tissue of progeny kernels of the 4 inbreds (Pan and Peterson, Genetics, submitted, 1987).
We report here 6 putative germinal events of Uq activation recovered as single spotted kernels in a total of 163,205 colorless BC2 progeny kernels. Each of these Uq elements has unique features in terms of both spotting pattern and spotting frequency when interacting with the standard a-ruq allele (Table). Further tests have indicated that these features of the 6 putative Uq elements are inherited (data not shown). Other tests are in progress to determine 1) the genetics of the 6 putative Uq elements, and 2) the relation of each of the 6 putative Uq elements to the standard Uq/ruq system.
Yong-Bao Pan and Peter A. Peterson
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