Rapid chloroplast segregation and recombination of mitochondrial DNA in Brassica cybrids

Summary Brassica cybrids were obtained after fusing protoplasts of fertile and cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) B. napus lines carrying the original b. napus, and the Ogura Raphanus sativus cytoplasms, respectively. Iodoacetate treatment of the fertile line and X-irradiation of the CMS line prevented colony formation from the parental protoplasts. Colony formation, however, was obtained after protoplast fusion. Hybrid cytoplasm formation was studied in 0.5 g to 5.0 g calli grown from a fused protoplast after an estimated 19 to 22 cell divisions. Chloroplasts and mitochondria were identified in the calli by hybridizing appropriate DNA probes to total cellular DNA. Out of the 42 clones studied 37 were confirmed as cybrids. Chloroplast segregation was complete at the time of the study. Chloroplasts in all of the cybrid clones were found to derive from the fertile parent. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) segregation was complete in some but not all of the clones. In the cybrids, mtDNA was different from the parental plants. Physical mapping revealed recombination in a region which is not normally involved in the formation of subgenomic mtDNA circles. The role of treatments used to facilitate the recovery of cybrids, and of organelle compatibility in hybrid cytoplasm formation is discussed.