THE INHERITANCE OF A RECURRING SOMATIC 

 VARIATION IN VARIEGATED EARS 

 OF MAIZE 1 



PROFESSOR R. A. EMERSON 

 University of Nebraska 



Introduction 



The inheritance of variegation has special interest and 

 importance in genetics. It is with forms of variegation 

 that the only two certainly known cases of non-Mendelian 

 inheritance have had to do. I refer to Baur's experiments 

 with Pelargonium, in which crosses of green-leaved and 

 white-leaved forms exhibited somatic segregations in F l 

 that bred true in later generations, and to Correns's work 

 with Mirabilis, which showed green and white leaf color, 

 to be inherited through the mother only. De Vries's con- 

 ception of "ever-sporting" varieties was apparently 

 founded largely upon the behavior of variegated flowers 

 in pedigree cultures, from which he reached the conclusion 

 that the variegated color pattern and the monochromatic 

 condition arising from it as sports are non-Mendelian in 

 inheritance. Correns, however, has shown that in Mira- 

 bilis jalapa the inheritance of these sports is distinctly 

 Mendelian, and the results of East and Hayes indicate the 

 same for Zea mays. In this paper I shall present data 

 from maize and attempt to show how they can be inter- 

 preted in strictly Mendelian terms. 



Variegation is distinguished from other color patterns 

 by its incorrigible irregularity. It is perhaps most often 

 seen in the coloration of flowers and leaves but also occurs 

 m fruits, seeds, stems, and even roots of various plants. 

 It is characteristic of the ears of certain varieties of maize 

 known, at least in the Middle West, as "calico" corn. In 



1 The experimental results reported here were presented at the Cleveland 

 meeting f the American Society of Naturalists, January, 1913. Research 

 bulletin No. 4 of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station. 



