Evidence indicating that barley-stripe-mosaic virus has a mutagenic effect on maize is presented. The frequency of deficiencies of marker genes in F(1) seeds was significantly greater from pollinations involving viruis-infected males than from healthy controls. A small percentage of F(2) ears, involving virus-infected P(1) males, exhibited marked ratio distortions for marker genes. Such distortions persisted in subsequent back-cross generations.
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Sprague et al. (1963) studied this question.