SummaryRapeseed plants have been regenerated after fusion between protoplasts bearing cytoplasms of different genera. Cybrids combine, in a first experiment Brassica napus chloroplasts and a cytoplasmic male sterility (cms) trait coming from Raphanus sativus, in a second experiment chloroplasts of a triazine resistant Brassica campestris and cms trait from Raphanus sativus. Transfer of chloroplasts has been confirmed by restriction cp DNA analysis and two dimensional thylakoïd protein electrophoresis. These plants may be very useful for Brassica hybrid seed production.

Intergeneric cytoplasmic hybridization in cruciferae by protoplast fusion

Two independent F2 populations of Lycopersicon esculentum×L. pennellii which have previously been investigated in RFLP mapping studies were used for construction of a highly saturated integrated AFLP map. This map spanned 1482 cM and contained 67 RFLP markers, 1078 AFLP markers obtained with 22 EcoRI+MseI primer combinations and 97 AFLP markers obtained with five PstI+MseI primer combinations, 231 AFLP markers being common to both populations. The EcoRI+MseI AFLP markers were not evenly distributed over the chromosomes. Around the centromeric region, 848 EcoRI+ MseI AFLP markers were clustered and covered a genetic distance of 199 cM, corresponding to one EcoRI+ MseI AFLP marker per 0.23 cM; on the distal parts 1283 cM were covered by 230 EcoRI+MseI AFLP markers, corresponding to one marker per 5.6 cM. The PstI/MseI AFLP markers showed a more even distribution with 16 PstI/MseI AFLP markers covering a genetic distance of 199 cM around the centromeric regions and 81 PstI/MseI AFLP markers covering a genetic distance of 1283 cM on the more distal parts, corresponding to one marker per 12 and 16 cM respectively. In both populations a large number of loci showed a significant skewed segregation, but only chromosome 10 loci showed skewness that was similar for both populations. This ultra-dense molecular-marker map provides good perspectives for genetic and breeding purposes and map-based cloning.

An integrated high-density RFLP-AFLP map of tomato based on two Lycopersicon esculentum x L. pennellii F2 populations

Brassica and Its Close Allies: Cytogenetics and Evolution

Cytoplasmically inherited male sterility (CMS) results from an interaction between the organellar and nuclear genomes that conditions the failure to produce functional pollen . CMS provides an expedient mechanism to produce large populations of male-sterile plants for commercial F1 hybrid seed production. In cases where the F1 hybrid crop must produce pollen and set seed, male sterility can be reversed by nuclear-encoded restorer-of-fertility alleles. Although the unfortunate epidemic of Southern Corn Leaf Blight on T-cytoplasmic maize revealed the dangers of hybrid-seed production using a single source of CMS, no other genetic vulnerability to disease or stress has been attributed directly to a CMS gene, in spite of the worldwide use of CMS. In some cases, mitochondrial-encoded CMS genes have been linked to undesirable, plastid-encoded traits, and nuclear restorer-of-fertility alleles have been linked to undesirable nuclear-encoded traits, but these linkages were successfully broken by somatic cell genetics and conventional plant breeding, respectively. The use of CMS to produce hybrid seed is very cost effective and has been widely exploited in a plethora of agronomic and horticultural crops. The purpose of this chapter is to list and review the major sources of CMS used commercially to produce hybrid seed.

The Use of Cytoplasmic Male Sterility for Hybrid Seed Production

Cold tolerant cytoplasmic male-sterile (CMS) cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) was produced by the fusion of leaf protoplasts from fertile cabbage and cold-tolerant Ogura CMS broccoli lines. The cabbage lines tested showed great variation in plant regeneration from unfused protoplasts; three with high regenerability were selected as the fusion partners. Several procedures for eliminating the nuclear DNA of the broccoli fusion partner were tested. Diploid cabbage plants were identified by flow cytometry and morphological characters. Gamma-irradiation (30 krad) was the most successful procedure; isolation of cytoplasts from broccoli leaf protoplasts, followed by gamma-irradiation of the cytoplast fraction, also produced diploids. UV-irradiation of the broccoli protoplasts was less effective. PCR using primers for an Ogura CMS-specific mitochondrial DNA sequence permitted the identification of cybrids likely to be CMS. Over 200 diploid plants with the CMS-specific sequence were obtained from 66 independent fusion products and three cabbage lines. Plants were ready for transfer into soil within 8 months after fusion. The plants identified as CMS by PCR produced male-sterile flowers. Our procedures permit the transfer of a desirable male-sterile cytoplasm into cabbage much more rapidly than conventional backcrossing procedures.

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Direct transfer of a cold-tolerant Ogura male-sterile cytoplasm into cabbage (Brassica oleracea ssp. capitata) via protoplast fusion

Cauliflower protoplasts were fused to determine the effect of protoplast source and pretreatment on organellar segregation in fusion products. Mitochondrial and chloroplast type were determined for over 250 calli from eight fusions between iodoacetate-treated or γ-irradiated leaf or hypocotyl protoplasts with fertile or Ogura cytoplasms. Organelles in fusion-derived calli were identified with five mitochondrial probes and one chloroplast probe. Mitochondrial and chloroplast segregation were independent but biased. Most calli had B. oleracea chloroplasts, but more calli had Ogura mitochondria than B. oleracea ones. Neither protoplast source nor pretreatment alone affected organelle segregation. However, iodoacetate treatment of hypocotyl protoplasts reduced their mitochondrial contribution to the fusion products although it did not affect chloroplast segregation. Over half of the calli had mitochondrial genomes distinct from those of either fusion partner; many of these contained the complete mitochondrial genome of one partner along with some mitochondrial DNA from the other. Out of 258 calli, 83 showed evidence of mitochondrial recombination, most commonly by formation of a novel 11-kb PstI fragment near the atp9 region.

T. W. Walters

Papers

Organellar segregation, rearrangement and recombination in protoplast fusion-derived Brassica oleracea calli.