White yellow virescent pattern in winter rye: Inheritance, plant growth, and ultrastructure of plastids

Inbred lines from different varieties of cultivated plants characterized by a white yellow irregular pattern on the leaves obtained after selection in the inbred generation (S-3) of winter rye (Secale cereale L.) were the obj ect of the present studies. The feature of a white yellow irregular pattern in all lines was monomeric and recessive. This trait in L158b, wch, and zp was determined by the same recessive gene marked with the symbol wyv(1), " white yellow virescent." The gene responsible for the appearance of the abo ve feature in line L24 was nonallelic to the gene wyv(1), therefore it was designated as the sequent gene of the same series-wyv(2). The studied forms of plants were characterized by a diminution in the number of plastids and in chlorophyll (a plus b) content in mesophyll cells of leaves. Contrary t o typical ultrastructure of chloroplasts in dark green plants (control), pl astids in lines with the white yellow virescent pattern on the leaves showe d variations in ultrastructure from numerous granal and intergranal thylako ids to a reduced number.