Molecular characterization of mitochondrial DNA of different subtypes of male-sterile cytoplasms of the sugar beet Beta vulgaris L.

Mitochondrial (mt) DNA from eight cytoplasmic male-sterile (cms) lines of sugar beet from different breeding stations was investigated by restriction fragment analysis and Southern hybridization. All cms lines showed similar but not identical restriction and hybridization signal patterns, readily distinguishable from those of fertile (N) cytoplasm. Digestion of the mtDNA with BamHI, EcoRI, SalI, and XhoI revealed distinct differences between the sterile lines, and six subtypes of the S cytoplasm could be distinguished.

High-rate spontaneous reversion to cytoplasmic male sterility in sugar beet: a characterization of the mitochondrial genomes.

Among the fertile sugar beet lines with nuclear sterility maintenance genes, rf, in a homozygous recessive state, sublines capable of reverting spontaneously at a high rate to sterility were identified. Of 24 related fertile sublines studied, 6 were found to spontaneously revert to sterility with a frequency of about 19%. Genetic analysis confirmed the cytoplasmic nature of spontaneously arising sterility.

A population genetic analysis of self- and cross-incompatibility in sugar beet (Beta Vulgaris L.).

A population genetic model is proposed for the reproduction of self-incompatible inbred lines in which incompatibility is controlled by 1-4 loci. From theoretical considerations it was expected that: a) with the random matings of lines In, (obtained by self-pollination of n generations), some lines would be cross-incompatible (all the plants within these lines would be homozygous for S-genes) and the rest would be cross-compatible (retain heterozygosity for one or more S-genes); b) in the case of random matings of Unes InGm (obtained by self-pollination of n generations and by random pollination for m generations), some lines would be cross-incompatible (heterozygous for one S-gene) and the rest would be cross-compatible (retain heterozygosity for two or more S-genes); c) the relative proportion of sterile plants, obtained by random pollination of cross-compatible lines, would be related to the number of segregating S-loci and to the generation in which the lines are studied.Forty-four inbred lines of sugar beet derived from self-incompatible plants of a population were analysed.