Many species cannot be crossed in traditional ways because
pollen cannot germinate, or pollen tubes cannot grow, or
sperm cannot be released in the female tissues of the other
species.
It IS possible to remove the cell walls from different species,
force the cells to fuse, and then regenerate whole plants from
the fused cell. In many cases most of these are sterile or one
of the two sets of chromosomes is lost completely.
Someone pointed out that members of a family are more likely
to give positive results in this kind of manipulation...this DOES
seem to be the case.
ross
Ross Koning Internet: Koning@ecsuc.ctstateu.edu
Biology Department Phone: (203)-465-5327
Eastern CT State University Fax: (203)-465-5213
Willimantic, CT 06226 USA