Inheritance of organelle genomes in citrus somatic cybrids

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) were used for the characterization of citrus organelle inheritance in somatic cybrids produced during six different citrus protoplast fusions. All the cybrids in this work inherited their mitochondrial genome from the embryogenic fusion partner (callus or cell suspension). In some of the combinations, non-parental bands were observed among the mitochondrial configurations. In contrast, the cybrids inherited plastid DNA from either the embryogenic or the nonembryogenic (leaf) fusion partner. The relative abundance of organelle DNAs in the embryogenic and leaf cells was in accordance with these inheritance patterns. Stochastic processes may therefore influence the outcome of somatic cell fusions with respect to organelle genomes.