CHLOROPLAST DNA INHERITANCE IN THE STELLARIA LONGIPES COMPLEX (CARYOPHYLLACEAE)

Inheritance of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) was examined in F-1 progenies derived from three crosses and three corresponding reciprocal crosses between Stellaria porsildii and S. longifolia. Chloroplast DNA restriction fragments were analyzed using methods of nonradioactive digoxigenin-11-dUTP labeling and chemiluminescent detection with Lumi-Phos 530. Distinct interspecific restriction fragment polymorphisms were identified and used to demonstrate the mode of cpDNA inheritance. Mode of cpDNA inheritance differed among crosses. Two crosses in which S. porsildii, SP2920-21, was the maternal parent exhibited three different types of plastids, maternal, paternal and biparental, among the F-2 hybrids, suggesting a biparental cpDNA inheritance and plastid sorting-out in Stellaria.