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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #360146
Research Project: Trait Discovery, Genetics, and Enhancement of Allium, Cucumis, and Daucus Germplasm

Location: Vegetable Crops Research

Title: Rare maternal and bi-parental transmission of the cucumber mitochondrial DNA reveals sorting of polymorphisms among progenies

Author
item SHEN, JIA - Zhejiang Normal University
item SHOU, WEISONG - Zhejiang Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item ZHANG, YUEJIAN - Zhejiang Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item YUAN, GAOYA - Nanjing Agricultural University
item ZHAO, YU - Nanjing Agricultural University
item CHEN, JINFENG - Nanjing Agricultural University
item Havey, Michael

Submitted to: Theoretical and Applied Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/22/2018
Publication Date: 2/13/2019
Citation: Shen, J., Shou, W., Zhang, Y., Yuan, G., Zhao, Y., Chen, J., Havey, M.J. 2019. Rare maternal and bi-parental transmission of the cucumber mitochondrial DNA reveals sorting of polymorphisms among progenies. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 132(4):1223-1233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-018-03274-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-018-03274-0

Interpretive Summary: The mitochondrial (mt) DNAs of most angiosperms show maternal inheritance, although relatively rare biparental or paternal transmission has been documented. The mt DNAs of plants in the genus Cucumis (family Cucurbitaceae) are paternally transmitted in intra- and inter-specific crosses. We used a mt mutant of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) to screen for rare maternal or biparental transmission of the mt DNA, and then used normal and droplet-digital (dd) PCR to study transmission of polymorphic mt markers across three generations. We observed evidence for occasional maternal and biparental transmission of the mt DNA in cucumber. The transmission of specific regions of the maternal mt DNA could be as high as 17.8%, although the amounts of these maternal regions were often much lower relative to paternally transmitted regions. Different combinations of maternal and paternal mt polymorphisms were detected in progenies across generations, indicating that relatively rare maternal regions can become predominant and be transmitted to progenies to increase mt DNA diversity over generations. This research will be of interest to plant geneticists and breeders in order to select for beneficial organellar contributions to plant performance.

Technical Abstract: The mitochondrial (mt) DNAs of most angiosperms show maternal inheritance, although relatively rare biparental or paternal transmission has been documented. The mt DNAs of plants in the genus Cucumis (family Cucurbitaceae) are paternally transmitted in intra- and inter-specific crosses. We used a mt mutant of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) to screen for rare maternal or biparental transmission of the mt DNA, and then used normal and droplet-digital (dd) PCR to study transmission of polymorphic mt markers across three generations. We observed evidence for occasional maternal and biparental transmission of the mt DNA in cucumber. The transmission of specific regions of the maternal mt DNA could be as high as 17.8%, although the amounts of these maternal regions were often much lower relative to paternally transmitted regions. Different combinations of maternal and paternal mt polymorphisms were detected in progenies across generations, indicating that relatively rare maternal regions can become predominant and be transmitted to progenies to increase mt DNA diversity over generations.