Gregor Mendel - Experiments with Hybrids of Other Species of Plants lyrics

10. Experiments with Hybrids of Other Species of Plants It must be the object of further experiments to ascertain whether the law of development discovered for Pisum applies also to the hybrids of other plants. To this end several experiments were recently commenced. Two minor experiments with species of Phaseolus have been completed, and may be here mentioned. An experiment with Phaseolus vulgaris and Phaseolus nan*s gave results in perfect agreement. Ph. nan*s had together with the dwarf axis, simply inflated, green pods. Ph. vulgaris had, on the other hand, an axis 10 ft. to 12 ft. high, and yellow colored pods, constricted when ripe. The ratios of the numbers in which the different forms appeared in the separate generations were the same as with Pisum. Also the development of the constant combinations resulted according to the law of simple combination of characters, exactly as in the case of Pisum. There were obtained: Constant Axis Color of the Form of the combinations unripe pods ripe pods --------------------------------------------------------- 1 long green inflated 2 " " constricted 3 " yellow inflated 4 " " constricted 5 short green inflated 6 " " constricted 7 " yellow inflated 8 " " constricted The green color of the pod, the inflated forms, and the long axis were, as in Pisum, dominant characters. Another experiment with two very different species of Phaseolus had only a partial result. Phaseolus nan*s L, served as seed parent, a perfectly constant species, with white flowers in short recemes and small white seeds in straight, inflated, smooth pods; as pollen parent was used Ph. multiflorus, W, with tall winding stem, purple-red flowers in very long recemes, rough, sickle-shaped crooked pods, and large seeds which bore black flecks and splashes on a peach-blood-red ground. The hybrids had the greatest similarity to the pollen parent, but the flowers appeared less intensely colored. Their fertility was very limited; from 17 plants, which together developed many hundreds of flowers, only 49 seeds in all were obtained. These were of medium size, and were flecked and splashed similarly to those of Ph. multiflorus, while the ground color was not materially different. The next year 44 plants were raised from these seeds, of which only 31 reached the flowering stage. The characters of Ph. nan*s, which had been altogether latent in the hybrids, reappeared in various combinations; their ratio, however, with relation to the dominant plants was necessarily very fluctuating owing to the small number of trial plants. With certain characters, as in those of the axis and the form of pod, it was, however, as in the case of Pisum, almost exactly 1:3. Insignificant as the results of this experiment may be as regards the determination of the relative numbers in which the various forms appeared, it presents, on the other hand, the phenomenon of a remarkable change of color in the flowers and seed of the hybrids. In Pisum it is known that the characters of the flower- and seed-color present themselves unchanged in the first and further generations, and that the offspring of the hybrids display exclusively the one or the other of the characters of the original stocks. It is otherwise in the experiment we are considering. The white flowers and the seed-color of Ph. nan*s appeared, it is true, at once in the first generation in one fairly fertile example, but the remaining 30 plants developed flower-colors which were of various grades of purple-red to pale violet. The coloring of the seed-coat was no less varied than that of the flowers. No plant could rank as fully fertile; many produced no fruit at all; others only yielded fruits from the flowers last produced, which did not ripen. From 15 plants only were well-developed seeds obtained. The greatest disposition to infertility was seen in the forms with preponderantly red flowers, since out of 16 of these only 4 yielded ripe seed. Three of these had a similar seed pattern to Ph. multiflorus, but with a more or less pale ground color; the fourth plant yielded only one seed of plain brown tint. The forms with preponderantly violet-colored flowers had dark brown, black-brown, and quite black seeds. The experiment was continued through two more generations under similar unfavorable circumstances, since even among the offspring of fairly fertile plants there came again some which were less fertile and even quite sterile. Other flower- and seed-colors than those cited did not subsequently present themselves. The forms which in the first generation contained one or more of the recessive characters remained, as regards these, constant without exception. Also of those plants which possessed violet flowers and brown or black seed, some did not vary again in these respects in the next generation; the majority, however, yielded together with offspring exactly like themselves, some which displayed white flowers and white seed-coats. The red flowering plants remained so slightly fertile that nothing can be said with certainty as regards their further development. Despite the many disturbing factors with which the observations had to contend, it is nevertheless seen by this experiment that the development of the hybrids, with regard to those characters which concern the form of the plants, follows the same laws as in Pisum. With regard to the color characters, it certainly appears difficult to perceive a substantial agreement. Apart from the fact that from the union of a white and a purple-red coloring a whole series of colors results, from purple to pale violet and white, the circumstance is a striking one that among 31 flowering plants only one received the recessive character of the white color, while in Pisum this occurs on the average in every fourth plant. Even these enigmatical results, however, might probably be explained by the law governing Pisum if we might a**ume that the color of the flowers and seeds of Ph. multiflorus is a combination of two or more entirely independent colors, which individually act like any other constant character in the plant. If the flower-color A were a combination of the individual characters A(1) + A(2) + ..... which produce the total impression of a purple coloration, then by fertilization with the differentiating character, white color, a, there would be produced the hybrid unions A(1)a + A(2)a + ..... and so would it be with the corresponding coloring of the seed-coats. According to the above a**umptions, each of these hybrid color unions would be independent, and would consequently develop quite independently from the others. It is then easily seen that from the combination of the separate developmental series a complete color-series must result. If, for instance, A = A(1) + A(2), then the hybrids A(1)a and A(2)a form the developmental series A(1) + 2A(1)a + a A(2) + 2A(2)a + a The members of this series can enter into 9 different combinations, and each of these denotes another color: 1 A(1)A(2) 2 A(1)aA(2) 1 A(2)a 2 A(1)A(2)a 4 A(1)aA(2)a 2 A(2)aa 1 A(1)a 2 A(1)aa 1 aa The figures prescribed for the separate combinations also indicate how many plants with the corresponding coloring belong to the series. Since the total is 16, the whole of the colors are on the average distributed over each 16 plants, but, as the series itself indicated, in unequal proportions. Should the color development really happen in this way, we could offer an explanation of the case above described, namely that of the white flowers and seed-coat color only appeared once among 31 plants of the first generation. This coloring appears only once in the series, and could therefore also only be developed once in the average in each 16, and with three color characters only once even in 64 plants. It must, nevertheless, not be forgotten that the explanation here attempted is based on a mere hypothesis, only supported by the very imperfect result of the experiment just described. It would, however, be well worth while to follow up the development of color in hybrids by similar experiments, since it is probable that in this way we might learn the significance of the extraordinary variety in the coloring of our ornamental flowers. So far, little at present is known with certainty beyond the fact that the color of the flowers in most ornamental plants is an extremely variable character. The opinion has often been expressed that the stability of the species is greatly disturbed or entirely upset by cultivation, and consequently there is an inclination to regard the development of cultivated forms as a matter of chance devoid of rules; the coloring of ornamental plants is indeed usually cited as an example of great instability. It is, however, not clear why the simple transference into garden soil should result in such a thorough and persistent revolution in the plant organism. No one will seriously maintain that in the open country the development of plants is ruled by other laws than in the garden bed. Here, as there, changes of type must take place if the conditions of life be altered, and the species possesses the capacity of fitting itself to its new environment. It is willingly granted that by cultivation the origination of new varieties is favored, and that by man's labor many varieties are acquired which, under natural conditions, would be lost; but nothing justifies the a**umption that the tendency to formation of varieties is so extraordinarily increased that the species speedily lose all stability, and their offspring diverge into an endless series of extremely variable forms. Were the change in the conditions the sole cause of variability we might expect that those cultivated plants which are grown for centuries under almost identical conditions would again attain constancy. This, as is well known, is not the case since it is precisely under such circumstances that not only the most varied but also the most variable forms are found. It is only the Leguminosae, like Pisum, Phaseolus, Lens, whose organs of fertilization are protected by the keel, which constitute a noteworthy exception. Even here there have arisen numerous varieties during a cultural period of more than 1000 years under most various conditions; these maintain, however, under unchanging environments a stability as great as that of species growing wild. It is more than probable that as regards the variability of cultivated plants there exists a factor which so far has received little attention. Various experiments force us to the conclusion that our cultivated plants, with few exceptions, are members of various hybrid series, whose further development in conformity with law is varied and interrupted by frequent crossings inter se. The circumstance must not be overlooked that cultivated plants are mostly grown in great numbers and close together, affording the most favorable conditions for reciprocal fertilization between the varieties present and species itself. The probability of this is supported by the fact that among the great array of variable forms solitary examples are always found, which in one character or another remain constant, if only foreign influence be carefully excluded. These forms behave precisely as do those which are known to be members of the compound hybrid series. Also with the most susceptible of all characters, that of color, it cannot escape the careful observer that in the separate forms the inclination to vary is displayed in very different degrees. Among plants which arise from one spontaneous fertilization there are often some who offspring vary widely in the constitution and arrangement of the colors, while that of others shows little deviation, and among a greater number solitary examples occur which transmit the color of the flowers unchanged to their offspring. The cultivated species of Dianthus afford an instructive example of this. A white-flowered example of Dianthus caryophyllus, which itself was derived from a white-flowered variety, was shut up during its blooming period in a greenhouse; the numerous seeds obtained therefrom yielded plants entirely white-flowered like itself. A similar result was obtained from a sub-species, with red flowers somewhat flushed with violet, and one with flowers white, striped with red. Many others, on the other hand, which were similarly protected, yielded progeny which were more or less variously colored and marked. Whoever studies the coloration which results in ornamental plants from similar fertilization can hardly escape the conviction that here also the development follows a definite law which possibly finds its expression in the combination of several independent color characters.