Mapping of male sterility gene ms10 in chilli pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.)

Most of the hybrid seed in chilli are produced manually, but the use of male sterility ( MS ) can reduce the cost of hybrid seed production. MS ‐12, a nuclear male‐sterile ( NMS ) line developed at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (India), has been utilized to develop commercial F 1 hybrids. A recessive gene, designated as ms10 , governs MS in MS ‐12. Due to recessive gene control, development of new NMS lines incorporating ms10 gene is tedious and time‐consuming. We identified SSR markers AVRDC ‐ PP 12 and AVRDC _ MD 997* linked to the ms10 gene. A total of 558 primer pairs were screened following bulked segregant analysis ( BSA ). Linkage analysis in 210 F 2 plants indicated that the two SSR markers were linked to the ms10 gene and the marker AVRDC ‐ PP 12 was closest to the gene at 7.2 cM distance. The marker was mapped to chromosome 1 at genome position 175 694 513 to 175 694 644. Until more closely linked markers are developed, the marker AVRDC ‐ PP 12 would facilitate transfer of ms10 gene through marker‐assisted selection ( MAS ). Fine mapping would lead to cloning of the ms10 gene.