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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #68044
Title: GENETICS AND CYTOLOGY OF A NEW GENIC MALE-STERILE SOYBEAN [GLYCINE MAX (L.)MERR.]

Author
item JIN, WEI - ISU
item HORNER, HARRY - ISU
item Palmer, Reid

Submitted to: Plant Reproduction
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/9/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Plants can be male sterile and female fertile. These unusual plants are useful to study reproductive development. More importantly, they have the potential to be useful in plant breeding programs for hybrid seed production. Our objectives with this soybean male-sterile, female-fertile plant was to determine the inheritance and to determine if this mutant was identical to previously identified soybean male-sterile, female-fertile mutants. The mutant was inherited in as a recessive trait, i.e., the fertile plants are dominant to the sterile plants. This is the usual situation. The mutant was genetically different from the six previously identified soybean male-sterile, female-fertile mutants. The plant breeding utility of this mutant will be assessed. These results will be of most interest to those interested in producing hybrid soybean seed.

Technical Abstract: Genetic and cytological studies were conducted with a new male-sterile, female-fertile soybean mutant. This mutant was completely male sterile and was inherited as a single-recessive gene. No differences in female or male gamete transmission of the recessive allele were observed between reciprocal cross-pollinations in the F1 or F2 generations. This mutant was not allelic to any previously identified soybean genic male-sterile mutants. No linkage was detected between sterility and flower color (W1 locus), or between sterility and pubescence color (T1 locus). Light microscopic and cytological observations were conducted. The structure of microspore mother cells (MMC) in male-sterile plants was identical to the MMCs of male-fertile plants. Sterility was caused by retention of the callose wall, which normally is degraded around tetrads at the late tetrad stage. The tapetum from male-sterile anthers also showed abnormalities at tetrad and later stages, which were expressed by an unusual formation of vacuoles and by accumulation of densely staining material. At maturity anthers from sterile plants were devoid of pollen grains.