"PV, you spoke above about stiching and the like, but I don't think I've ever read about that as being genetically associated. That doesn't mean it isn't, but it also doesn't mean it is. Especially with Lillian's Yellow Heirloom that has so few seeds I have no choice b'c those fruits almost always have stiching and perhaps it is a trait of that vareity, for instance." [Carolyn]
Carolyn,
I know I'm not expressing myself completely or correctly on this issue, and that's why others are addressing it with corrections or different points of view.
What I'm trying to say is that I think (and alway qualify that with "don't believe everything you think") that zippers, stitching, and catfacing are all environmentally triggered expressions of genetic coding ... and someone else can please put that into scientific perspective because that's the best I can do.
But what I feel is that that genetic coding is in the plant but is only expressed in some of the fruit in most cases and probably as a result of an environmentally triggered response like temperature, etc., at the time of blossom set. For example, zippers or stitching appears to be pieces of anther or whatever dragging down the sides of the ovary. Catfacing appears (at least to me) to be a radical expression of zippering or the incomplete fertilization of segments of the ovary ... whatever ... whether induced by temps or triggered by some other environmental/weather condition, herbicide drift ... whatever.
In any case, I think (not necessarily believe) that these expressions are more prevalent in some varieties than in others because the genetic coding is preserved in those varieties while it has been either selected out, accidentally disposed of (read "evolved" out), or simply overcome ... masked ... whatever, by other genetic strengths in other varieties. About this whole process I know very little other than thinking (not believing) that it may have less to do with fate and more to do with ... nevermind ... that's taking it somewhere else.
Anyway, I see no reason other than economy to save seed from less than near perfect fruit ... with the qualifier I left out before ... that those fruit are taken from the best example of plant that I have at my disposal. For example, I have two Amish Paste but am only saving seed from the best fruit off the best plant of the two. Same with the two best Indian Stripe plants and the two best Yellow Sports of you-know-what.
But like I said, this is just my way and not a proven theory ... and I'm no longer suggesting other folks do it ... "x" that part out of my previous post ... zip ... nada ... pretent it ain't there folks.
But I still wonder why if every seed in every fruit on the same plant supposedly will produce identical plants/fruits in the next OP generation, then why do we see occasionally diverse results in large grow-outs of seeds selected single plants? Can that all be chalked off to bees or spontaneous mutations?
PV