Hybrid Sterility Loci Research Articles

Molecularmarker diversity and hybrid sterility in indica-japonica rice crosses

The partial sterility of hybrids between the indica and japonica rice subspecies of Asian cultivated rice is a serious constraint for utilizing inter-subspecific heterosis in hybrid rice breeding. In this study, we have investigated the relationship between molecular-marker polymorphism and indica-japonica hybrid fertility using a diallel set involving 20 rice accessions including 9 indica and 11 japonica varieties. Spikelet fertility of the resulting 190 F1s and their parents was examined in a replicated field trial. Intra-subspecific hybrids showed much higher spikelet fertility than inter-subspecific hybrids except in crosses involving wide-compatibility varieties. The parents were surveyed for DNA polymorphism using 96 RFLP and ten SSR markers, which revealed extensive genetic differentiation between indica and japonica varieties. A large number of markers detected highly significant effects on hybrid fertility. The chromosomal locations for many of the positive markers coincided well with previously identified loci for hybrid sterility. The correlation between hybrid fertility and parental distance was low in both intra- and inter-subspecific crosses. The results suggest that the genetic basis of indica-japonica hybrid sterility is complex. It is the qualitative, rather than the quantitative, difference between the parents that determines the fertility of hybrids.

Identification of two types of differentiation in cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) detected by polymorphism of isozymes and hybrid sterility

Magnitudes of genetic variation within each of major varietal groups of cultivated rice were surveyed in terms of isozyme polymorphism and allelic differentiation of hybrid sterility loci, both of which are considered to have litt le selective value. Allelic differences for 20 isozyme loci were examined in a total of 337 accessions, including Indica and Japonica rices. Aus cultivars from India, Javanica cultivars and both landraces and cultivars from China. Eleven out of the 20 isozyme loci were polymorphic. The Aus cultivars contained more alleles per locus than others. The hybrid sterilities in the crosses among Chinese cultivars, Indica and Japonica cultivars were mainly controlled by locus S-5, whereas the hybrid sterilities of Aus cultivars, when they were crossed to Indica, Japonica or Javanica cultivars, were found to be controlled by allelic interaction at hybrid sterility loci S-5, S-7, S-9 and S-15. Also in terms of the number of alleles at S-5 and S-7, Aus cultivars contained more alleles than others. While the Aus group showed an extreme diversity for both hybrid sterility alleles and isozymes, modern cultivars from the south of YangZi River in China were classified into Indica type and those from the north were into Japonica, which were almost the same as those in Japan. On the basis of the measured polymorphism the Indica-Japonica differentiation was explained by founder effects, i.e., through selection and distribution of two original sources each with a unique set of markers. Contrastingly, the continuous and pronounced diversity in the Aus group was attributed to the absence of such a process. The intermediate groups in Yunnan province and Tai-hu Lake region of China are considered to be isolated from such founder effects, retaining an intermediate diversity in terms of isozymes and hybrid sterility genes. Since hybrid sterility hampers the exchange of genes between cultivars of different groups, the understanding of its genetic basis will be important in rice breeding, particularly in hybrid rice breeding.

Two new loci for hybrid sterility in cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Female gamete abortion in Indica-Japonica crosses of rice was earlier identified to be due to an allelic interaction at the S-5 locus on chromosome 6. Recently, in other crosses of rice, similar allelic interactions were found at loci designated as S-7 and S-8, located on chromosomes 7 and 6 respectively. All of them are independent of each other. At the S-5 locus, Indica and Japonica rice have S-5 (i) and S-5 (j) alleles respectively and Javanicas, such as Ketan Nangka, have a neutral allele S-5 (n) .The S-5 (i) /S-5 (j) genotype is semi-sterile due to partial abortion of female gametes carrying S-5 (j) , but both the S-5 (n) /S-5 (i) and S-5 (n) /S-5 (j) genotypes are fertile. The S-5 (n) allele is thus a "wide-compatibility gene" (WCG), and parents homozygous for this allele are called wide-compatible varieties (WCV). Such parents when crossed with Indica or Japonica varieties do not show F1 hybrid sterility. Wide-compatible parents have been used to overcome sterility barriers in crosses between Indica and Japonica rice. However, a Javanica variety, Ketan Nangka (WCV), showed typical hybrid sterility when crossed to the Indian varieties N22 and Jaya. Further, Dular, another WCV from India, showed typical hybrid sterility when crossed to an IRRI line, IR2061-628-1-6-4-3(IR2061-628). By genetic analyses using isozyme markers, a new locus causing hybrid sterility in crosses between Ketan Nangka and the Indicas was located near isozyme loci Est-1 and Mal-1 on chromosome 4, and was designated as S-9. Another new locus for hybrid sterility in the crosses between Dular and the IR2061-628 was identified and was found linked to four isozyme loci, Sdh-1, Pox-2, Acp-1 and Acp-2, on chromosome 12. It was designated as S-15. On the basis of allelic interactions causing female-gamete abortion, two alleles were found at S-9, S-9 (kn) in Ketan Nangka and S-9 (i) in N22 and Jaya. In the heterozygote, S-9 (kn) /S-9 (i) , which was semisterile, female gametes carrying S-9 (kn) were aborted. The hybrid of Dular and IR2061-628, with a genetic constitution of S-15 (Du) /S-15 (i) , was semi-sterile and the female gametes carrying S-15 (Du) were aborted. A Japonica tester variety, Akihikari, and an Indica variety, IR36, were found to have neutral alleles, S-9 nand S-15 n, at these loci, in addition to S-7 nand at S-7. The accumulation of three neutral alleles into a breeding line should help solve the hybrid sterility problem in wide crosses of rice.

Two new loci for hybrid sterility in cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Two new loci for hybrid sterility in cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Evidence for Mutational Origin of Hybrid Sterility Genes in Rice(Oryza sativa L.).

Semi-sterile panicles found in inter-subspecific hybrids between Indica and Japonica rice are caused by partial abortion of gamete having S-5j on heterozygote S-5ilS-5j at the locus on chromosome 6, where a neutral allele S-5 is also identified and the genotype of S-5n /S-5i and S-5nIS-5j do not show hybrid sterility. Similar allelic in-teractions were also identified at some other loci including S-7. We report here two cases of mutant alleles at such hybrid sterility loci. First, the semi-sterility in hybrids be-tween Toyonishiki and an Indica tester IR 36 was found to be caused only by an allelic interaction of i IS-5j . When Miyukimochi, which is an irradiated mutant from Toyonishiki was tested, the semisterility in F1 hybrids between Miyukimochi and IR 36 was attributed to allelic interactions by both S-5i IS-5j and S-7iIS-7j . Toyonishiki was found to possess a neutral allele S-7n at S-7. Thus, the neutral allele S-7n in Toyonishiki was found to be mutated into S-7j by irradiation with 60Co. Second, an experimental line, 02428 was tested, which possesses the wide compatible allele,

Molecular analysis of the inheritance of the S-5 locus, conferring wide compatibility in Indica/Japonica hybrids of rice (O. sativa L.)

RFLP analysis was conducted on a population derived from a three-way cross to determine the location of the hybrid sterility locus, S-5, in relation to mapped molecular markers and to identify markers that would be useful for selection in breeding. S-5 is of interest to rice breeders because it is associated with spikelet sterility of F1 hybrids in Indica/Japonica crosses. Identification of an S-5 allele which confers fertility in Indica/Japonica hybrids when introgressed into either the Indica or the Japonica parent has been reported. Varieties carrying this S-5 (n) allele are known as "wide compatibility varieties (WCV)". Our data suggests that RFLP marker RG213 on chromosome 6 is closely linked to the S-5 locus and can be efficiently used to identify wide compatibility (WC) lines. RG213 is a single-copy genomic clone that detects three bands of different molecular weights in DNA from Japonica ('Akihikari') and Indica ('IR36') varieties and WC line ('Nekken 2'). We demonstrate that the three alleles detected by this marker could be used to trace the inheritance of the "wide compatible" phenotype in breeders' material.

Loci for Hybrid Sterility in Basmati Crosses

Massive Screening has been conducted in hybrid rice breeding to determine if a set of varieties can be used as maintainers or restorers. If the pollen of an F ₁ hybrid between a cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) tester and any given variety is sterile, the variety may be used as maintainer. If the pollen is sound and the panicles of the F ₁ are completely fertile, the variety may be used as a restorer. However, interference of hybrid sterility genes with a CMS-restoration factory system very much confounds the criteria used in the screening.

Hybrid Sterility-6: A Mouse t Complex Locus Controlling Sperm Flagellar Assembly and Movement

Mouse t haplotypes alter sperm differentiation, resulting in abnormal sperm movement and sterility. In previous studies, a locus responsible for hybrid sterility in the genus Mus, Hst-4, was mapped to the distal inversion of the t complex on chromosome 17. Here we report the identification and characterization of two additional hybrid sterility loci, Hst-5 and Hst-6 , that map to the same inversion. We further show that an abnormality in sperm flagellar curvature deriving from interactions between t haplotypes and the M. spretus allele of Hst-6 is indistinguishable from one exhibited by sperm from mice carrying two t haplotypes. Additionally, we demonstrate that this latter phenotype maps to the distal inversion of t haplotypes. Morphological and functional studies of Hst-6 mutant sperm also imply that the product(s) of Hst-6 is a spermatogenic-specific protein, important for assembly and function of the sperm axoneme. Thus, Hst-6 provides direct access to the molecular basis of t haplotype-specific alterations in sperm function that emanate from the t complex distal inversion.

A novel mouse chromosome 17 hybrid sterility locus: implications for the origin of t haplotypes.

The effects of heterospecific combinations of mouse chromosome 17 on male fertility and transmission ratio were investigated through a series of breeding studies. Animals were bred to carry complete chromosome 17 homologs, or portions thereof, from three different sources-Mus domesticus, Mus spretus and t haplotypes. These chromosome 17 combinations were analyzed for fertility within the context of a M. domesticus or M. spretus genetic background. Two new forms of hybrid sterility were identified. First, the heterospecific combination of M. spretus and t haplotype homologs leads to complete male sterility on both M. spretus and M. domesticus genetic backgrounds. This is an example of symmetrical hybrid sterility. Second, the presence of a single M. domesticus chromosome 17 homolog within a M. spretus background causes sterility, however, the same combination of chromosome 17 homologs does not cause sterility within the M. domesticus background. This is a case of asymmetrical hybrid sterility. Through an analysis of recombinant chromosomes, it was possible to map the M. domesticus, M. spretus and t haplotype alleles responsible for these two hybrid sterility phenotypes to the same novel locus (Hybrid sterility-4). Previous structural studies had led to the hypothesis that the ancestral t haplotype originated through an introgression event from M. spretus or a related species. If this were true, one might expect that (1) M. spretus homologs would be transmitted at a non-Mendelian ratio within the M. domesticus background, and (2) t haplotypes would be transmitted at a ratio closer to Mendelian within the M. spretus background.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)