Review: Mutation Rates in Diploid Annuals-Are they Immutable?

Nuclear mutations resulting in the chlorophyll-deficient or albino phenotype are the most commonly used end point of mutation in higher plants. Mutation rates per generation for albinism are remarkably similar in a variety of species of annuals even though these species vary greatly in their DNA levels, chromosome numbers, and apical ontogenies. These data prompt the hypothesis that the nuclear genes for chlorophyll deficiency or albinism, on the average, degrade at relatively constant rates regardless of many biological, ecological, and evolutionary parameters.