Types of Aberrations Found in Stamen Hairs

Several types or combinations of somatic aberrations may be recognized and scored. The change from the normal blue color to pink is a true mutation (or deletion), since the plant is heterozygous for flower color. However, the nature of the other aberrations is unclear as 

FIGURE 7. Diagram of a normal Tradescantia stamen hair and examples of aberrant hair and cell types observed following irradiation. (From Underbrink et al.( ) 

FIGURE 8. A, Scoring guide used with computer input sheets to aid in mapping the position of somatic aberrations within stamen hairs. 

Computer input sheet. Alphabet code is used to designate the type and position of somatic aberrations as. explained in text. G, Alphabet code used at Brookhaven to designate aberrant cell and hair types. Eight cell types (heavier boxes) are most commonly found. D, Combinations of code letters by which the computer can scan for various combined morphological and color aberrations. 

Examples of aberrant-event sequences. Depending on experimental design, the aberrant cells may be considered as separate events or combined into morphological and color events (see text). 

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