http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7110/full/nature05252.html

Brief Communications Arising

Nature 443, E8-E9 (28 September 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature05252; Published online 27 September 2006

Increased outcrossing in hothead mutants (Reply)

Susan J. Lolle¹, Robert E. Pruitt², J. L. Victor² & J. M. Young²

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Arising from: S. J. Lolle, J. L. Victor, J. M. Young & R. E. Pruitt Nature 434, 505–509 (2005).

The results obtained by Peng et al.¹ are consistent with an increased amount of outcrossing in hth mutants ofArabidopsis thaliana. Some of the results, such as the acquisition of a novel transgene, would be difficult to explain by any other mechanism. Outcrossing was a possibility that we thoroughly explored early on in our investigation², but we discounted it as an explanation because it was inconsistent with many of our experimental results.