Project Number: 3625-21000-056-19
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jul 01, 2012
End Date: Jun 30, 2013

Objective:
It may be possible to use gametic incompatibility systems to prevent corn from being pollinated by unwanted pollen. We will test this hypothesis by development of corn varieties containing combinations of gametic incompatibility systems. The objectives of this agreement are to develop functional markers for all known alleles at the Ga1 locus and to design a robust phenotyping strategy that will allow development of the desired varieties.

Approach:
The cooperator is engaged in map-based cloning of the Ga1 locus. Functional markers will be designed based on the sequences of the ga1, Ga1-S and Ga1-M alleles once these sequences are available. A phenotyping strategy containing positive and negative controls for the different gametic incompatibility loci will be developed and tested in our nursery this summer. This strategy involves pollinating plants to be phenotyped by pollen mixtures that have been characterized by pollination of a series of control plants.