The inheritance of the mutable variegated leaf in Mirabilis jalapa L.

Summary The recurrent back-mutation from homozygous recessive chlorina to heterozygous dominant green in leaves of variegated Mirabilis jalapa is explicable on the hypothesis of a controlling element system. The analysis of variance of mutation frequency suggests that there is polygenic control modifying the major regulatory gene, an idea which is supported by a significant parent offspring regression. There is also evidence for a change of state in the regulatory element giving rise to a new mutability pattern.