Inheritance of organelle genomes in citrus somatic cybrids

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) were used for the charact erization of citrus organelle inheritance in somatic cybrids produced durin g six different citrus protoplast fusions. All the cybrids in this work inh erited their mitochondrial genome from the embryogenic fusion partner (call us or cell suspension). In some of the combinations, non-parental bands wer e observed among the mitochondrial configurations. In contrast, the cybrids inherited plastid DNA from either the embryogenic or the nonembryogenic (l eaf) fusion partner. The relative abundance of organelle DNAs in the embryo genic and leaf cells was in accordance with these inheritance patterns. Sto chastic processes may therefore influence the outcome of somatic cell fusio ns with respect to organelle genomes.