Xenie
With Xenie is referred to in the genetics the change in the seed of a with respect to certain genes recessive plant , which the respective dominant hereditary characteristics of a parent , because these displays to able to manifest in the endosperm as a result of fertilization of the secondary embryo sac core.
The best-known Xenia are probably those of the maize plant ( Zea mays L.): When flowers of a yellow-seeded breed (recessive gene) are pollinated by pollen of a violet (dominant gene), this results in the mixed-colored maize cobs that are used in floristry for decorative purposes and for arrangements be used.
The term was coined in 1881 by the botanist Wilhelm Olbers Focke .
literature
- Gerhard Wagenitz : Dictionary of botany. Morphology, anatomy, taxonomy, evolution. 2nd, expanded edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-937872-94-0 , p. 352 (EA Heidelberg 2003).