Mutator
activity is maintained in exotic and inbred lines
--Virginia Walbot
A series of exotic lines was crossed with
bz2 tester in a W23 background, then selfed, to extract bz2
with 50% exotic background. These lines were then crossed to and by bz2
mutables (1.4 kb Mu insertions in the gene) in a mainly W23 background;
somatic mutability was scored in the progeny with 25% exotic background.
Alternatively, exotic lines were crossed with mutable materials, then selfed
so that somatic mutability of the reporter allele could be scored in the
progeny with 50% exotic background. In both types of test, mutability was
maintained in Zapalote Chico, Tama Flint, Papago Flour, Maiz Chapalote,
Tom Thumb, and Gourdseed. Mutable alleles of Bz1 and Bz2
have also been successfullly introgressed into the following inbred backgrounds:
A188, K55, NI, W22, W23, and the Coop background in which the an bz2
deletion is maintained. In both the standard and exotic lines, behavior
of the mutable alleles is the same as we have previously reported: somatic
mutability was maintained in most progeny but a few progeny became inactive.
In our hands, all backgrounds are equivalent in maintaining Mutator activity.
Our Mutator lines are all derived from the purple Mutator stock of D. S.
Robertson.
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