Genetic systems based on heterocaryosis

Pontecorvo, G. (1946) Genetic systems based on heterocaryosis. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, 11, pp. 193-201. (doi: 10.1101/SQB.1946.011.01.021)

Abstract

Genetics has been built on the study of species with sexual reproduction. An essential feature of genetic systems based on sexual reproduction is the alternation of meiosis and karyogamy, which has meaning only in relation to heterozygosity. These genetic systems could therefore be called “heterozygotic systems.” For obvious reasons of economy, the mechanisms of heredity and variation in groups as important as the bacteria, the Fungi imperfecti, and others—in all of which sexual reproduction as defined above does not occur—have been disregarded by the geneticist. Yet as far back as 1926, when Muller wrote his far-reaching paper, “The gene as the basis of life,” it was obvious that Mendelism was not the only way to a definition of the gene. Recently Beadle and Coonradt (1) with their work on Neurospora have given beautiful proof of what had been inferred from studies of somatic mutation in Drosophila, maize, etc.; namely, that...

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Guido Pontecorvo (1907-1999) was Glasgow University's first Professor of Genetics, from 1955 to 1968.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: UNSPECIFIED
• Authors: Pontecorvo, G.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Life Sciences
• Journal Name: Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology
• ISSN: 0091-7451
• ISSN (Online): 1943-4456