The epigentic explanation would explain most of your puzzling results.
What causes epigentic methylation in the genome (what is expressed of the genome) is all kind of stress (trauma). We do stress them a lot. Twinscaling, the transplanting in the green, lack of water and what not.
This may influence the whole plant or only a few cells, like a cutting knife or a fungus attack, or virus.
But it may happen or not. It can’t be yet fully determined. Most of the outcome is certainly not visibly expressed.
Some do not grow to well, get smaller, more draught tolerant and so on. This might fade away through environment conditions or even stabilized. That’s what epigenetic expression is good for
These types which revert to their sought type under ideal conditions means the change to the wrong type was a stop of expressing the mutated genome, this part of the genome was not expressed because of methylation. This may fade after some time.
There is the other way round. The cherished form is caused by methylation of part of the genome. When it reverts it is unlikely that we find the special place for methylation again.
We even won’t find out why it happened the first place. But maybe some will do the same trick again, because the multifaceted dice of epigentic fell again to the exact side. It is more likely than a mutation, so there is hope.
But science goes on and we will find a way to understand and edit what we will. But then everything will be a piece of art.
This is probably nothing for the near future.
Hi Axel, it would be nice to have PhD students working on this interesting mystery!
