Nature 251, 708 - 710 (25 October 1974); doi:10.1038/251708a0

A model for stably inherited environmentally induced changes in plants

HOWARD BUSSEY & M. A. FIELDES

Department of Biology, McGill University, Station A, PO Box 6070, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3G1

THE phenotypes of some inbred lines of Linum usitatissimum (flax) and Nicotiana rustica can be altered environmentally by fertiliser treatments, and the fertiliser-induced phenotypes show stable inheritance independent of the inducing conditions¹⁻³. In flax, the stably inherited large (L) and small (S) phenotypes can be induced from the plastic (Pl) genotype Stormont Cirrus by one generation of growth with high nitrogen or phosphorus fertiliser treatments respectively. The induced phenotypes of L and S, differing for example in plant weight and degree of branching, behave in most respects as distinct genotypes and have been termed genotrophs.

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