I have grown tomatillos for years. When I first started experimenting with seed saving, I realized that the tomatillo plants that I was growing were not self-compatible like tomato plants. In other words, I bagged flowers and mechanically self-fertilized, but no fruit was produced, whereas in bagged flowers that I cross pollinated between two plants, fruit was produced. I took this to mean that the tomatillo plant was self-incompatible, but others have said that they have grown a single tomatillo plant that set fruit. Most sources (including me) say that tomatillos are self-incompatible, but a few sources dispute this and say that they are self-compatible. According to this
abstract
Quote:
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One of the main limiting factors to improve tomatillo is the presence of self-incompatibility which has been reported to be gametophytic. In an early research, a self-compatible plant was found in the Rendidora landrace and this allowed us to investigate the inheritance of self-compatibility gene (s) in tomatillo. The following crosses were performed: self-compatible x self-incompatible, self-compatible x self-compatible and self-incompatible x self-incompatible and their respective reciprocal crosses. Segregation ratios on self-compatibility versus self-incompatibility in their offspring indicate that self-compatibility is not inherited via cytoplasm, so the responsible gene is located in chromosomes. The inheritance of self-compatibility is due to a single dominant gene (Sc) which is a mutation at the S locus. Self-compatible individuals are strictly heterozygous (Sc,4) and finally, the self-compatibility allele (Sc), in the male side (Sc,4), seems to be non functional when self-pollinating the Sc,4 stigma.
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Does this mean:
1) Self-compatibility is only expressed in individuals that are the offspring of one self-compatible and one self-incompatible parent.
2) The self-compatibility gene is present in the offspring of self-compatible plants, but they are not themselves self-compatible unless they are the offspring of a self-compatible and a self-incompatible parent.
Thank you for your help in my basic genetics education.
