Marker detection for fertility restoration gene in WCA sorghum

Abstract

A total of 3 859; 1 574 and 4 119 SNP markers were used for Rf2 (DT298xCK60A), Rf3 (FambeA x Lata) and Rf4 (FambeA x DT298) genetic map construction, respectively, Rf1 (CK60A x Lata) was removed from analyses. The QTL analysis revealed one QTL on chromosome 5 for Rf2, one QTL on chromosome 2 for Rf3 (Figure 1) and 2 QTLs for Rf4 on chromosomes 5 and 10 were, found with a LOD score superior to 4 (Table 1). In total 24 PPR genes (this gene family is known to be involved in CMS systems in other plants) were found in the regions with significant LOD scores. Finally, 11 candidate genes were selected based on their similarity with rice Rf1 and sorghum Rf1 genes. The same genes were found for Rf2 and Rf4, both having the same male parent. The development of primers for sequencing of these genes is ongoing.