A question for the list:
I had always thought that chloroplasts, like mitochondria, are inherited
only maternally in most species. I recently learned that at in least
some plants, not only does the pollen parent contribute chloroplasts,
but the maternal and paternal chloroplasts segregate into different
tissues. We had an interesting discussion here about the possible
implications of this for histological differentiation from the
tunica-corpus type of stem apex.
My question is whether anyone on the list has a sense of how widespread
paternal inheritance of chloroplasts (and presumably mitochondria) is.
Is this just an occasional thing in a few species, or the standard
process for most plants?
Many thanks.
Jon
