Multiple-ligule (Mlg*-1) is a dominant mutant that arose in a Mutator field. The initial phenotype was a ligule composed of multiple rows of ligule giving a "fuzzy" appearance. After 4 generations of introgression into Mo17, B73, and W23, it has 100% penetrance and is uniformly expressive. The phenotype is different in the different inbreds, and the ligule is not as multiplied as it was before introgression. In Mo17, the ligule over the midrib is usually not continuous, but where it is present, it occurs in multiple "tufts". These tufts also appear randomly for several inches distal into the midrib region. The leaf also appears to have sheath extending into the blade at the midrib in much the same way as Lg3-O. The blade is bent outward at a greater angle than wild-type. The auricle and ligule on either side of this broadened midrib appear to be normal. This is in contrast to the phenotype in B73, where, in addition to the normal ligule, there are longitudinal ligule rows following lateral veins in the auricle only. In W23, the ligule is usually continuous and multiple around the midrib.
Mlg*-1 has been localized by T-wx translocation mapping.
Mlg*-1
heterozygotes were crosses to a T-wx series and Mlg progeny
were testcrossed to wx. Mlg*-1 was found to be linked to
both 3S and 3L translocations:
F1 Genotype | Wx-Mlg | Wx-mlg | wx-Mlg | wx-mlg |
(P) | (R) | (R) | (P) | |
wx T3-9(8447)/Mlg | 92 | 45 | 19 | 133 |
wx T3-9(8562)/Mlg |
DNA was made from 10 Mlg/mlg and 10 mlg/mlg sibs. A polymorphism was found when samples were restricted with HindIII, and blots probed with a DNA fragment specific to lg3. No recombinants were found between the Mlg phenotype and the RFLP, suggesting close linkage, and probable allelism between lg3 and "mlg".
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