Fig 1: Achlorophyllus seedling in BARI Begun-4 comparison
with normal green seedlings,
3 Days After Germination
Fig 2: Achlorophyllus seedling in BARI Begun-4 (Solanum
melongena),
3 Days After Germination
Lethal genes
Have you ever seen a white plant?
Probably not. The white colour in plant is due to the presence of the gene
which is also responsible for killing the plant born with that gene. Such genes
are termed lethal genes. Some lethal genes kill only in the homozygous
condition and are recessive lethals. Dominant lethal cause death even
when present in the heterozygous condition. I found a seedling born with the
gene in BARI Brinjal-4 after days of sowing. It died after 4 days of germination. In the mean time it took nutrition from seed storage. When the store ended it could not survive due to having no chlorophyll and no photosynthesis.
