Non-random inheritance of organellar genomes in symmetric and asymmetric somatic hybrids between Lycopersicon esculentum and L. pennellii

Abstract

The organization of the mitochondrial genome and the genotype of the chloroplast genome was characterized using restriction fragment length polymorphisms in a population (82 individuals) of symmetric and asymmetric somatic hybrids of tomato. The protoplast fusion products were regenerated following the fusion of leaf mesophyll protoplasts of Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato cv 'UC82') with suspension cell protoplasts of L. pennellii that had been irradiated with 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, or 100 kRads from a gamma source. The chloroplast genome in the somatic hybrids showed a random pattern of inheritance, i.e., either parental genome was present in equal numbers of regenerants, while in asymmetric somatic hybrids, the chloroplast genotype reflected the predominant nuclear genotype, i.e., tomato. The mitochondrial genome in the symmetric somatic hybrids showed a non-random pattern of inheritance, i.e., predominantly from the L. pennellii parent; asymmetric somatic hybrids had more tomato-specific mitochondrial sequences than symmetric somatic hybrids. The non-random inheritance of the chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA in these tomato protoplast fusion products appears to be influenced by the nuclear background of the regenerant.