Autogenous Necrosis in an Antirrhinum Species Hybrid

Abstract

HERITABLE plant tumours have been found in interspecific hybrids of Nicotiana ^1,2, particularly in the hybrids of N. glauca × N. langsdorffii. Seldom, however, have they been found in any other plant material; an inbred line of clover³ and interspecific hybrids of Datura ⁴ being possible extensions of the phenomenon. Autogenous necrosis, also an infrequent pathological condition but perhaps genetically analogous to some cases of tumour formation, has been observed and analysed in hybrids of Lycopersicon species and wheat varieties^5,6. The results presented here have many similarities with the variable production of necrosis in some wheat hybrids, but the sterility of the Antirrhinum material prevented further analysis.