IDENTIFICATION OF GENETIC LINKAGE BETWEEN MALE STERILITY AND DWARFNESS IN SAFFLOWER

Abstract

Six spontaneous dwarf male sterile (OMS) mutants of about 30 cm mean plant height were identified in safflower accession BLY1035.The inheritance of male sterility and dwarfness in Fl, F2 and F3 progenies of OMS crosses suggested that the two characters are governed by different recessive genes in homozygous state. Male sterility and dwarfness are designated by the gene symbols mS2 and dw respectively. The genetic analysis revealed close linkage between mS2 and dw genes. Among the crosses, OMS XHUS 282 and OMS x BLY 1035 exhibited complete linkage between the sterility and dwarfing genes. However, the crosses OMS x crv 244 and OMS x Bhima recorded 0.72 ± 0.73% and 7.97 ± 1.980/. linkage distances, respectively, between mS2 and dw. Linkage between the genes for male sterility and dwarfness is reported for the first time, and its usefulness in hybrid seed production is discussed.