Extraordinary transgressive phenotypes of hybrid tomato are influenced by epigenetics and small silencing RNAs

New research from Dr Shivaprasad in the Baulcombe group explains why hybrid plants are sometimes much more vigorous or much weaker than the parents. Their findings that have been published recently in the EMBO Journal (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/emboj.2011.458) will influence thinking about evolutionary mechanisms and the use of hybrid plants in agriculture.