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A biotechnology‐based male‐sterility system for hybrid seed production in tomato
Author(s) -
Du Minmin,
Zhou Ke,
Liu Yuanyuan,
Deng Lei,
Zhang Xiaoyue,
Lin Lihao,
Zhou Ming,
Zhao Wei,
Wen Changlong,
Xing Jiayi,
Li ChangBao,
Li Chuanyou
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.14678
Subject(s) - biology , sterility , hybrid seed , software maintainer , crispr , microbiology and biotechnology , cas9 , genetically modified organism , genetically modified crops , transgene , cytoplasmic male sterility , gene , botany , genetics , hybrid
Summary Incorporating male sterility into hybrid seed production reduces its cost and ensures high varietal purity. Despite these advantages, male‐sterile lines have not been widely used to produce tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) hybrid seeds. We describe the development of a biotechnology‐based breeding platform that utilized genic male sterility to produce hybrid seeds. In this platform, we generated a novel male‐sterile tomato line by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR‐associated protein 9 (Cas9)‐mediated mutagenesis of a stamen‐specific gene SlSTR1 and devised a transgenic maintainer by transforming male‐sterile plants with a fertility‐restoration gene linked to a seedling‐colour gene. Offspring of crosses between a hemizygous maintainer and the homozygous male‐sterile plant segregated into 50% non‐transgenic male‐sterile plants and 50% male‐fertile maintainer plants, which could be easily distinguished by seedling colour. This system has great practical potential for hybrid seed breeding and production as it overcomes the problems intrinsic to other male‐sterility systems and can be easily adapted for a range of tomato cultivars and diverse vegetable crops.