The flowers on the motherplant and the keiki are not the same!

[kavanaru]

Originally Posted by Saiva

So, what my father has got is a completely new hybride?

no, that's nota new hybrid... there were no "father" and "mother" plants involved exchanging genetic material... As I said before a keiki is basically a clon of the "mother" plant, therefore it is exactly the same hybrid.... if indeed, you had a mutation (a very improbable episode, but not impossible, as I explainned) which furthermore drove the new plant to be of such a "good quality" (further more improbable, as most mutations are actually on the other direction - but that's another discussion theme), then your father got a new "clon" and can consider himself as very very very lucky (In Venezuela we would say, he should go and play the loterie right now!)

[unhappykat]

Not a new hybrid but probably a new cultivar.

[Saiva]

So, a new clon then! Thank you kavanaru for your help!

[dgenovese1]

Originally Posted by Saiva

They are all three from an old stem so I guess it's the mutation theory then!

So, what my father has got is a completely new hybride?

Hi Saiva,
What your father has is a completely new variation of the same hybrid, perhaps even a more desireable one, depending on your taste.
A new hybrid comes from the crossing of two different parents, a new variation would be similar to different expressions of the same cross...in humans it is comparable to siblings in a family. They have the same parents, only they look diffeent because the genetics are expressed differently.
In this case, the mutation appears because the genetics are being expressed differently on that particular plant.
It's all good no matter what.

In this case, variation, clone and cultivar mean the same thing...thanks kavanaru and Kat...you must have been typing at the same time I was.

[Chubidubi]

That's just AWESOME, Saiva! It would be cool if that happened often. At least to my 'chids.

[camille1585]

That is so strange!! I prefer the keiki as well, since I'm not really fond of striped flowers. You were very lucky to get a mutation, and even luckier that the mutation was a good one!

[orchideric]

It is not a mutation in the conventional use of the term. This is most likely the result of a regulatory gene. Essentially a regulatory gene is like a light switch for structural genes. Turn the switch on and you get stripes, turn the switch off and you do not get stripes. The actual genetic material in the plant is not altered (hence not a mutation).

The most common example in Phals are in the boldly spotted Taiwan hybrids like Everspring. The size of the spots is based on when the regulatory gene is turned on to tell a given cell lineage to produce pigments. Turn the gene on early and you get a nearly solid purple flower - turn it on late and you get a nearly white flower with just a few spots. This double system is why tissue culture "mutations" are so common in that line of breeding.

The parallel system in humans is a strawberry birth mark. If the regulatory gene stays off there is no birth mark - turn it on early and you get a large birth mark - turn it on late and you get a tiny birth mark.

Eric

[dgenovese1]

Eric,

Thanks for the explanation...I never knew that!

Ummm...things are getting curiouser and couriouser.

[cowboy51278]

do you know the name of the mother plant? it would be interesting to see if keiki number 2 looked a lot like one of the grandparents. some kind of throw back mutation

genetics are soooo interesting!

[cowboy51278]

also, just a thought. if the parent plant is a mericlone there is def a chance of a genetic misfire. they mericlone hundreds of thousands and then bloom them out to sell in mass quantities. a certain percentage of these have misshapen foliage or flowers or do not bloom just because of the cloning process. the good ones are then sold off.