Development and characterization of SCAR markers associated with a dominant genic male sterility in rapeseed

Abstract Rs1046AB is a dominant genic male sterility (DGMS) line in rapeseed, in which the sterility has always been thought to be conditioned by the interaction of a male sterility gene ( Ms ) and its non‐allelic restorer gene ( Rf ). This system provides not only a tool for assisting in recurrent selection but also a promising system for hybrid production. Based on previous studies, two amplified fragment length polymorphism markers linked with the Ms gene were converted into a dominant and a co‐dominant sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker, respectively. The putative linear order relationship of three dominant SCAR markers with the same genetic distance from the Rf gene, was also determined by an examination of whether the homologues of these markers are present or not in different lines carrying Rf . A bigger fragment generated by the closest marker linked to the Rf gene was observed in all lines carrying the recessive allele rf , suggesting that this marker is a co‐dominant marker, which was further confirmed by nucleotide sequence comparison of these fragments. SCAR markers specific for Ms and Rf will be especially valuable in marker‐assisted DGMS three‐line breeding.