Alloplasmic male-sterile Brassica juncea with Enarthrocarpus lyratus cytoplasm and the introgression of gene(s) for fertility restoration from cytoplasm donor species

Abstract.

A new cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) source in Brassica juncea (2n = 36; AABB) was developed by substituting its nucleus into the cytoplasm of Enarthrocarpus lyratus (2n = 20; E^ℓE^ℓ). Male sterility was complete, stable and manifested in either petaloid- or rudimentary-anthers which were devoid of fertile pollen grains. Male sterile plants resembled the euplasmic B. juncea except for slight leaf yellowing and delayed maturity. Leaf yellowing was due mainly to higher level of carotenoids rather than a reduction in chlorophyll pigments. Female fertility in male-sterile plants varied; it was normal in lines having rudimentary anthers but poor in those with petaloid anthers. Each of the 62 evaluated germplasm lines of B. juncea was a functional maintainer of male sterility. The gene(s) for male-fertility restoration (Rf) were introgressed from the cytoplasm donor species through homoeologous pairing between A and E^ℓ chromosomes in monosomic addition plants (2n = 18II+1E^ℓ). The percent pollen fertility of restored F₁ (lyr CMS × putative restorer) plants ranged from 60 to 80%. This, however, was sufficient to ensure complete seed set upon by bag selfing. The CMS (lyr) B. juncea compared favourably with the existing CMS systems for various productivity related characteristics. However, the reduced transmission frequency of the Rf gene(s) through pollen grains, which was evident from the sporadic occurrence of male-sterile plants in restored F₁ hybrids, remains a limitation.