North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

A bunch of apple cultivars were developed by exposing a buds of older cultivars to radiation.  I think that's where a lot of the "spur" type, redder types, and some other variants of popular cultivars come from.  Some are randomly found sports, of course (which are usually the result of natural radiation changing the genes in a bud) but I think a lot were intentionally created.

It sounds like this method is very widespread.

Ginda

On Aug 28, 2007, at 12:07 PM, Brungardt, Sam wrote:

Some of you may find this story disturbing, but I found it interesting and informative even though the writer described Japanese pears as a cross between apples and pears. -- Sam Brungardt, St. Paul, Minn.

Useful Mutants, Bred With Radiation
Public fears aside, scientists mimic nature's genetic scrambling to  bolster fruits and vegetables, as well as beer and whiskey.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/science/28crop.html?th&emc=th

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