In the locules of fertile Petunia hybrida anthers the in vivo pH during meiosis is 6.8-7.0 and no callase activity can be detected. Towards the end of the tetrad stage, the pH drops to 5.9-6.2 followed by a burst of callase activity. Subsequently, callose in the tetrad walls is digested and the quartets of microspores are released into the anther locules and develop into pollen grains. In the anther locules of one cytoplasmic male sterile (cms) Petunia type the pH drop and strong callase activity are already evident at early meiotic stages. Consequently, the callose already accumulated in the pollen mother cell (PMC) walls is digested and the PMC's cease to develop and are degraded. In another sterile genotype, the pH of the locule remains high (6.8-7.0), no callase activity is detected at the end of tetrad stage and the callose walls remain intact until a very late stage. It is suggested that the timing of callase activity is critical for the normal development of the male gametophyte and that faulty timing may result in male sterility. Measurements of pH in vivo and assays for callase activity in vitro indicate that the low pH is a precondition for the enzyme activity. Furthermore, it is suggested that the activation of callase in vivo is in some way connected with the changes in the pH of the locule.

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We have characterized two related regions of twoPetunia mitochondrial genomes in order to understand how plant mt genomes from a cytoplasmic male sterile (cms) line and a fertile line diverge from one another. Restriction maps of these regions indicate that a sequence arrangement shared by the two genomes adjoins sequences which are not shared at the corresponding locations in the two genomes. A point where the mt genomes from the cms line and the fertile lines diverge from each other was identified and mapped.Previously we had observed that somatic hybrids constructed from the cms and the fertile line contained mt genomes carrying new combinations of parental mtDNA restriction fragments (3). Using the restriction maps of the two related mtDNA regions, a mtDNA arrangement unique to the cms parent could be shown to be present in all 17 stable sterile somatic hybrids tested and none of the 24 stable fertile somatic hybrids tested. This data does not exclude the possibility that additional, as yet unidentified, mtDNA arrangements unique to the cms parent might also be found exclusively in sterile somatic hybrids. Whether or not the sterile parental mtDNA arrangement reported here is functionally related to cms, it apparently segregates with cms in somatic hybrids.

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Accurate and rapid cultivar identification is important for breeders'‐rights protection, especially for vegetatively propagated plants. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of developing cultivar‐specific RAPD markers in commercial strawberries (Fragaria ananassa Dutch). Efforts were focused on distinguishing between two newly developed Volcani cultivars, ‘Ofra’ and ‘Dorit’, and six other cultivars, ‘Douglas’, ‘Chandler’, ‘Oso Grande’, ‘Dover’, ‘Nurit’ and ‘Parker’. Reproducible RAPD fingerprints were generated, each containing at least one polymorphic DNA product. A combination of 10 polymorphic DNA products exhibited cultivar‐specific patterns enabling the distinction between closely related varieties, such as ‘Ofra’ (which is the progeny of ‘Dorit’ and ‘Parker’) and ‘Dorit’ (which is the progeny of ‘Nurit’ and ‘Dover’). This study shows that RAPD markers can help in the protection of breeders’ rights to strawberry cultivars.

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