Specific DNA alterations associated with the environmental induction of heritable changes in flax

Several flax varieties have been shown to undergo environmentally induced heritable changes resulting in stable lines termed genotrophs. The most notable of these is the variety Stormont Cirrus, also termed "plastic" or Pl. A number of morphological, biochemical and genetic differences are associated with environmental induction of heritable changes in flax. We have studied 5S rDNA alterations as a model system for understanding environmental induction of heritable changes in flax. This paper reports the isolation of a flax 5S rRNA gene variant which identifies genotroph specific restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in flax. Restriction fragment patterns for several enzymes were observed in both large and small genotrophs which consistently differed from the progenitor, Stormont Cirrus. Identical RFLP profiles for all restriction endonucleases tested were observed in four small genotrophs produced from separate environmental induction experiments. Comparison between Stormont Cirrus and these small genotrophs showed at least six differing bands in addition to several high molecular weight polymorphisms. Genetic data indicate that the polymorphisms were all produced from a repetitive 5S rRNA gene cluster at a single chromosomal locus. Similar, but not identical, polymorphisms are also detected in other flax varieties and Linum species suggesting that the induced variation is related to that which occurs naturally. The results are evidence that a specific set of DNA alterations occur in association with the induction of heritable changes in flax. This is the first genetic marker which is altered to an identical state in one type of genotroph. The results are discussed with respect to mechanisms for environmentally induced heritable change in plants.