INHERITANCE OF MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA IN INTERSPECIFIC CROSSES OF PICEA-GLAUCA AND PICEA-OMORIKA

Fifteen interspecific hybrids of Serbian spruce (Picea omorika (Pane) Purkyne) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) representing fi ve separate crosses, including reciprocals, were used to demonstrate m aternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA. Total DNA was extracted from foliage samples of Serbian spruce (S), white spruce (W), and both S(f emale) x W(male) and W(female) x S(male) hybrids, digested and probed with one of two maize mitochondrial genes, ATPase alpha or COXII. ATPa se alpha generated diagnostic Serbian and white spruce genotypes for a ll five enzymes tested, while COXII differentiated between the two spe cies for four of five enzymes. Maternal inheritance was indicated in a ll hybrids for every diagnostic enzyme-probe combination. No paternal or nonparental bands were detected. A dilution experiment indicated th at the Serbian and white spruce mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphisms could be detected in as little as 60 and 500 ng of total DNA, respectively. It appears that the mechanism that control s the inheritance of mitochondria in Picea is still functional in wide interspecific crosses.