ba3 (formerly designated ba*-861059b) - a new barren-stalk locus --Yong-Bao Pan and Peter A. Peterson ba*-861059 (ba*) is a barren-stalk mutant derived from the progenies of a WSMV infected maize plant (MNL 62:4). It is a single recessive gene. Its relation to the three previously described barren-stalk mutant genes, ba1, ba2 and baf (Annu. Rev. Genet. 22:352), has been tested. The results are summarized as follows:
 
Cross type
No. of crosses
Progeny per cross tested
Ba*/ba* x ba1/ba1
1
13
Ba1/ba1 x ba*/ba*
1
14
Ba2/ba2 x Ba*/ba*
1
24
Ba2/ba2x ba*/ba*
3
13
Ba*/ba* x ba2/ba2
5
13-14
Baf/baf x Ba*/ba*
1
22
Baf/baf x ba*/ba*
2
13
Ba*/ba* x Baf/baf
4
13-14

That none of the designated crosses yielded any barren-stalk progeny provides genetic evidence that ba* is not allelic to ba1, ba2 or baf and represents a new independent locus influencing the barren-stalk trait. We conclude that a mutation at any of these 4 loci could cause a barren-stalk phenotype and that these 4 (possibly more) genes act in different steps in a pathway leading eventually to a barren-stalk phenotype. We designate ba*-861059b as ba3.

Please Note: Notes submitted to the Maize Genetics Cooperation Newsletter may be cited only with consent of the authors

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