Identification and gene cloning of a male‐sterile mutant Oswbc11 in rice

Abstract

AbstractCommercial application of nuclear genetic male sterility has been improved recently by a novel technique, Seed Production Technology (SPT), which incorporates transgenic maintainer lines capable of propagating non‐transgenic nuclear male‐sterile lines for use as female parents in hybrid production. Here, we identified a rice nuclear male‐sterile mutant, Oswbc11, with abnormal pollen development and lipid transport. We finely mapped the Oswbc11 gene into a 12.5‐kb region on chromosome 10 and found one candidate gene, which had a base substitution (C to T) resulting in a premature stop codon and was functionally confirmed by CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Gene OsWBC11 encodes a sub‐family member of adenosine triphosphate‐binding cassette transporter, which participates in the active transport of a wide range of molecules across membranes. Moreover, the agronomic traits of Oswbc11 mutants showed no significant differences compared to the wild‐type control except for the seed setting rate. These results indicated that Oswbc11 gene could be used in rice hybrid breeding as a recessive nuclear male‐sterile gene combined with CRISPR/Cas9 and the SPT technology and applied in different rice varieties.