Paternal Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA of Cucumis hystrix in an Interspecific Cross between C. sativus and C. hystrix

Abstract

Paternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Cucumis hystrix Chakr. was revealed in the interspecific crosses of cucumber (C. sativus L.) x C. hystrix. The mtDNA was analyzed by RFLP analysis of a PCR amplified nad4 exon1 and nad4 exon2 region of the female parent C. sativus, male parent C. hystrix and the hybrids. All the hybrids showed the identical restriction pattern of C. hystrix. This indicated the paternal inheritance of mtDNA. A similar experiment with chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) was performed by RFLP analysis of a PCR amplified rbcL-ORF106 region. The results showed the identical restriction pattern of the female parent C. sativus in the same hybrids. This indicated the maternal inheritance of cpDNA. Paternal transmission of the mitochondrial genome of C. hystrix was newly discovered in the Cucumis hybrids.