Cytoplasmic Male Sterility: A Robust and Well-Proven Arsenal for Hybrid Breeding in Vegetable Crops

Abstract

AbstractVegetables are the integral part of our daily diet as they are loaded with various phytonutrients and considered as an important component for nutritional security and alleviating malnutrition. There is a huge demand of vegetables to fulfil the requirement of ever-growing population. This can be achieved only through vertical expansion by enhancing productivity. In this respect exploitation of heterosis and hybrid breeding will be a feasible and sustainable intervention. Vegetable crops exhibit robust and durable hybrid vigour, and exploitation of heterosis is the important way forward in their genetic improvement. Production of hybrid seeds in a commercial scale and cost-effective way, pollination control mechanism like male sterility system is considered as robust and proven arsenal in vegetables. Among the various types of male sterility mechanism available in plant species, cytoplasmic male sterility is the most extensively utilized in different vegetable crops. In this chapter, we thoroughly documented the various available male sterility mechanisms; their potential utilization in F1 hybrid seed production; sterilizing cytoplasm, their sources and diversification; fertility restoration mechanism, inheritance, molecular mapping and cloning of Rf elements; recent advances in deciphering male sterility determinants; role of marker-assisted selection in hybrid breeding utilizing CMS system; and adoption of modern omics technology to elucidate the CMS systems in vegetables. Moreover, this chapter also summarizes the current status and future strategies of utilization and improvement of the available CMS systems in various vegetables.KeywordsVegetablesHybrid seed productionCMS systemFertility restoration