Attention sports fans! The far-reaching contributions of bud sport mutants to horticulture and plant biology

Abstract

Plant biology: The value of good sports Careful analysis of unusual shoots on parent plants provides valuable insights into mechanisms driving genomic evolution. Sometimes, plants produce shoots, single flowers or fruit that are visibly and genetically different from the rest of the plant. These ‘bud sports’ are caused by stable mutations and usually retain the positive characteristics of the parent plant. They are useful for cultivating novel varieties, particularly in species with low genetic variability. Toshi Foster at the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and Maria Jose Aranzana at the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics in Barcelona, Spain, reviewed current knowledge of bud sports and their genetic origins. Analyses of buds using next-generation sequencing is providing insights into the function and regulation of genes and mutations, with applications in agriculture and plant biology.