This is probably a basic breeding question but since I have only recently begun to dabble in making crosses I have begun to wonder...

Does having a parent as a pod parent or a pollen parent make a difference in the outcome of the cross? Are certain traits more dominant depending on if a certain plant is the pod or pollen plant? Would the offspring of the same cross be different if you switched the pod & pollen parents? Are these questions making sense??

Is the answer the same for all orchid crosses not just slippers?

Thanks for tolerating my ignorance.

Regards,
Travis

good question Travis i'm intrested in reading this post once it's answered

:welcome: Travis!!
Nothing wrong with the questions you ask, we are all here to learn. I'm not a breeder but this is my understanding:
Does having a parent as a pod parent or a pollen parent make a difference in the outcome of the cross? Yes it could
Are certain traits more dominant depending on if a certain plant is the pod or pollen plant? Yes, it's possible.
Would the offspring of the same cross be different if you switched the pod & pollen parents? It could be.
Are these questions making sense?? Yes
Is the answer the same for all orchid crosses not just slippers? I don't know???

My understanding is the pod parent often tends to dominate more than the pollen parent. So for example, if you wanted longer petals in a PEOY you wou use the sanderianum as the pod parent. Or if you wanted a redder Magic Lantern you would use micranthum instead of a delanatii as the pod parent.

David

The reasons that pod parents MAY dominate a cross are not very simple, and certainly not consistent between tribes or even genera.

It all boils down to this fact, though: Genetic potential is NOT simply distributed via DNA.

The vital difference between a male and female zygote is size. The female zygote is much larger, and is a fully functioning cell, for all intents and purposes. As a fully sized (actually oversized) cell, the egg is blessed with all of the components needed to make a cell work. This includes bits of genetic information that are present OUTSIDE the nucleus. The biggest such bit by far is MITOCHONDRIAL RNA, which may exist independently of the nuclear DNA, and assists the cell in creating proteins and other material. Yellow colors in Cattleyas, for instance, are theorized to be imparted to a great extent by mitochondrial RNA.

The male zygote, on the other hand, is a DNA delivery vehicle. This cell is highly specialized, and has no apparatus for doing anything genetically except fertilizing the femal zygote.

I'm certain that someone else could explain this better, but that's the short story.

Very interesting Brian. Thank you for the explanation.

Pod vs pollen is affected by both mitochondrial DNA and plastids, which are not usually transmitted by pollen. The bright yellow color in Catts and other genera is usually contained in plastids that are seldom transmitted in pollen. Other pigments such as anthocyanins responsible for lavender/red color are transmitted via chromosomal DNA and are passed on well by pollen.
Dean