Effective restoration of male-sterile (barnase) lines requires overlapping and higher levels of barstar expression: A multi-generation field analysis in Brassica juncea

Abstract

We have earlier reported the deployment of an effective pollination control system for hybrid seed production in Brassica juncea based on use of the barnase-barstar system. The current study analyses the stability and performance of four male-sterile (barnase) and 34 fertility restorer (barstar) lines under containment field conditions. Line (barnase) x tester (barstar) crosses were studied for effective fertility restoration over three successive growing seasons by screening the F1 and representative F2 progeny for three major parameters, namely segregation of Basta resistance and sensitive plants, distribution of male-sterile and fertile plants (vis-à-vis segregation of the barnase and the barstar genes) and pollen viability of the restored events. A total of 29 male sterile/restorer combinations out of 53 obtained in the first growing season were stable for their restoration ability when tested for two subsequent growing seasons. Stable restorers with high pollen viability were obtained at a significantly higher frequency for one of the barnase lines, bn 3.6, out of the four lines tested. Among the barstar lines, constructs carrying two transcription units of the barstar gene provided more effective fertility restoration. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of restored progeny obtained for all the four barnase lines showed that three barnase lines (bn 3.23, bn 3.4 and bn 3.48) had an early and much higher level of barnase expression than the line bn 3.6 indicating that the level of barnase expression in the line bn 3.6 is optimal for better and stable restoration. It was observed that a high barstar : barnase transcript ratio and an extended window of barstar gene expression are critical parameters for the development of stable male-sterile (barnase) and fertility-restorer (barstar) combinations.