Ability of Rf5 and Rf6 to Restore Fertility of Chinsurah Boro II-type Cytoplasmic Male Sterile Oryza Sativa (ssp. Japonica) Lines

Honggen Zhang,Yan Pei,Shuzhu Tang,Lijia Zhang,Yongshen Ge,Jianlan Che,Qiaoquan Liu,Minghong Gu

doi:10.1186/s12284-017-0142-9

Abstract

BackgroundThree-line Oryza sativa (ssp. japonica) hybrids have been developed mainly using Chinsurah Boro II (BT)-type cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). The Rf1 gene restores the fertility of BT-type CMS lines, and is the only fertility restorer gene (Rf) that has been used to produce three-line japonica hybrids. Using more Rf genes to breed BT-type restorer lines may broaden the genetic diversity of the restorer lines, and represents a viable approach to improve the heterosis level of BT-type japonica hybrids.ResultsWe identified two major Rf genes from ‘93-11’ that are involved in restoring the fertility of BT-type CMS plants. These genes were identified from resequenced chromosome segment substitution lines derived from a cross between the japonica variety ‘Nipponbare’ and the indica variety ‘93-11’. Molecular mapping results revealed that these genes were Rf5 and Rf6, which are the Rf genes that restore fertility to Honglian-type CMS lines. The BT-type F1 hybrids with either Rf5 or Rf6 exhibited normal seed setting rates, but F1 plants carrying Rf6 showed more stable seed setting rates than those of plants carrying Rf5 under heat-stress conditions. Furthermore, the seed setting rates of F1 hybrids carrying both Rf5 and Rf6 were more stable than that of F1 plants carrying only one Rf gene.ConclusionRf6 is an important genetic resource for the breeding of BT-type japonica restorer lines. Our findings may be useful for breeders interested in developing BT-type japonica hybrids.

Highlights

Three-line Oryza sativa hybrids have been developed mainly using Chinsurah Boro II (BT)-type cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS)
F1 hybrids developed using the gametophytic CMS/Rf systems with multiple restorer gene loci can produce more than 50% normal pollen grains and exhibit good seed setting rates (Huang et al 2012; Komori and Imaseki 2005), which may be useful for breeding BTtype japonica hybrids
Construction of Chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSL) and whole-genome resequencing Between 2004 and 2010, a set of CSSLs was developed via crossing and backcrossing with the aid of 140 molecular markers, and the genotypes of 56 CSSLs (L1– L56) were determined using a high-throughput resequencing strategy

Summary

Introduction

Three-line Oryza sativa (ssp. japonica) hybrids have been developed mainly using Chinsurah Boro II (BT)-type cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). Progress has been made toward characterizing the mechanisms underlying the development of BT-type CMS and the restoration of fertility by Rf genes, only Rf1 has been used to breed BT-type restorers. This has resulted in limited genetic diversity among BT-type restorers, and this is a major obstacle for the further development of BT-type japonica hybrids (Chen and Liu 2014). F1 hybrids developed using the gametophytic CMS/Rf systems with multiple restorer gene loci can produce more than 50% normal pollen grains and exhibit good seed setting rates (Huang et al 2012; Komori and Imaseki 2005), which may be useful for breeding BTtype japonica hybrids

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Conclusion