The stability of induced compact mutant clones of Bramley's Seedling apple

Summary

Twelve selected, compact, clones of Bramley's Seedling induced by gamma radiation treatment were checked for stability. Representative trees were used as vegetative parents for large scale multiplication, and further buds were treated with gamma radiation to disrupt the structure of their meristems. The results indicate that seven of the clones are as stable as the original cultivar, and therefore probably homohistont, containing only cells with compact mutant genotype. The other five clones proved to be unstable and gave rise to a large proportion of apparently normal trees. It is hypothesized that in these clones the L₁ (epidermis) consists of normal unchanged tissue, while the bulk of the plant tissue layers are of mutant cells, i.e. that they are periclinal chimaeras with the genotypes of the different cell layers coded for different growth forms.