2016 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 1-7
Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a useful system to produce hybrid seeds in a variety of crop species. In eggplant, CMS systems were developed utilizing the cytoplasms of six wild Solanum species by repeated backcrossings. These CMS systems were classified into two types. The first one is anther indehiscent-type sterility in the CMS systems of eggplant with the cytoplasms of Solanum kurzii Brace & Prain, S. violaceum Ort., and S. virginianum L., in which anther contains normal pollen but does not open to release. The second one is pollen non-formation-type sterility in the CMS systems of eggplant with the cytoplasms of S. aethiopicum Aculeatum Group, S. anguivi Lam., and S. grandifolium C.V. Morton, in which anther of the male-sterile lines is completely devoid of pollen. Both types of sterility system were characterized by investigating pollen and seed fertility. Furthermore, in pollen non-formation CMS systems, two independent dominant fertility restorer (Rf) genes were discovered and a sequenced characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker tightly linked to these genes was developed.