Pollen irradiation and the transfer of maternal genes in Pisum sativum.

Pollen of Pisum sativum was exposed to doses of 900 to 6,000 r of X-rays prior to pollinating a multiply marked genotype. The first generation progeny closely resembled that produced with unirradiated pollen. In the second generation, five loci were monitored, and the results showed that irradiation enhanced the proportion of maternal information transmitted to the progeny; the practical implications of the data, as well as the mechanism underlying the effect are discussed.