Investigations on an interspecific hybrid involving three species of the genus Beta, with special reference to isozyme polymorphism.

A tetraploid (2n=36) interspecific hybrid was obtained involving three species belonging to three different sections of Beta. The hybrid was highly sterile and did not show apomixis. At meiosis, up to nine bivalents were observed, most probably resulting from autosyndesis of the chromosomes of Beta lomatogona. For nine isozyme systems, individual enzyme expression was investigated in the parental species and in the hybrids. No silencing of genes or genomes was observed. In the case of some polymeric enzymes interspecific heteropolymers could be detected.