An Overview of Studies on Plant Chimeras: Progress in the Development of New Chimerical Plants

摘要

Plant chimeras were first noted in the middle of the 19th century. These unusual plants appeared by chance in gardens from grafted fruit trees and ornamental trees. The "Bizzarria" orange, [Citrus 'Bizzarria' (C. sinensis + C. unshiu)], a chimera between the citron and the sour orange, and "Adam's laburnum", (+ Laburnocytisus), a chimera between a laburnum and a broom, are historically famous. In the early 20th century, H. Winkler, a German botanist, created a new plant that was composed of two genetically different tissues — the tomato and the nightshade. He named it "chimera" from Greek mythology, according to which, the word "chimaera" describes a creature that is a combination of the lion, the goat, and the dragon. Until recently, various plant chimeras were created with experimental species of herbaceous plants, i.e., from the family Solanaceae, to produce new composites with the desirable characteristics of both plants for the purpose of studying chimerical structures.