GENETIC-RECOMBINATION IN PLANTS

Meiotic recombination generates novel allelic arrays on chromosomes. R ecent experiments have revealed an extraordinarily nonrandom distribut ion of recombination breakpoints along the lengths of plant chromosome s; for example, recombination breakpoints often resolve within genic s equences, and thereby generate novel alleles. The mechanism by which r ecombination breakpoints are determined is an area of active investiga tion. In addition, recent developments are providing recombination-bas ed technologies for creating targeted alterations in the architecture of plant genomes.