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Microspore gene expression associated with cytoplasmic male sterility and fertility restoration in sorghum

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Abstract

Gene expression associated with the restoration of fertility in sorghum lines carrying the IS1112C male-sterile cytoplasm was characterized through cDNA-AFLP transcript profiling and examinations of protein product abundance of selected mitochondrial genes. Microspores from near-isogenic male-sterile, fertility-restored, and normal-cytoplasm lines in two genetic backgrounds, and from four recombinant inbred lines (RILs) differing at two fertility restorer loci, were examined. We characterized seven transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) unique to a BC7F3 fertility-restored line, four of which were eliminated in a marker-selected BC11F3. Transcripts or cDNAs of the remaining three TDFs were detected in all lines examined, indicating that the unique fragments represent alleles detected by sequence polymorphisms or by enhanced transcript abundance. The TDFs were found to be derived from the non-recurrent IS1112C male parent, and certain of the TDFs may be linked to the fertility restorer alleles, consistent with analyses of the RILs. Sequences of the TDFs showed similarity with EST’s of unknown cellular function. The accumulation of mitochondrial proteins was examined in male-sterile, normal-cytoplasm, and restored BC11F3 lines. The male-sterile microspore mitochondria contained elevated levels of the nuclear-encoded alternative oxidase protein, potentially associating mitochondrial dysfunction with failed pollen development. The relative abundance of mitochondrial-encoded ATPA, ATP6 and COXII proteins, and of nuclear-encoded MnSOD, Cyt c and ALDH proteins, did not vary with cytoplasm or fertility status at the microspore stage.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Drs. R. R. Klein, J. Rollins, and W. Y. Song for critical reviews, and acknowledge the technical assistance of Odenis Vitorelli. This was a cooperative investigation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service and the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations Journal Series R-10647.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, 1453 Fifield Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32608, USA

    D. R. Pring & H. V. Tang

  2. Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, 1143 Fifield Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32608, USA

    C. D. Chase & M. N. Siripant

Authors
  1. D. R. Pring
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  2. H. V. Tang
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  3. C. D. Chase
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  4. M. N. Siripant
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Correspondence to D. R. Pring.

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Communicated by S. Russell

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Pring, D.R., Tang, H.V., Chase, C.D. et al. Microspore gene expression associated with cytoplasmic male sterility and fertility restoration in sorghum. Sex Plant Reprod 19, 25–35 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-005-0019-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-005-0019-8

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