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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #157225
Title: PCR-BASED MARKERS TO DIFFERENTIATE THE MITOCHONDRIAL GENOMES OF PETALOID AND MALE FERTILE CARROT (DAUCUS CAROTA L.)

Author
item BACH, INGA - VET AND AG UNIV DENMARK
item OLESEN, ANNETTE - VET AND AG UNIV DENMARK
item Simon, Philipp

Submitted to: Euphytica
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/2/2002
Publication Date: 6/15/2002
Citation: Bach, I.C., Olesen, A., Simon, P.W. 2002. PCR-based markers to differentiate the mitochondrial genomes of petaloid and male fertile carrot (Daucus carota L.). Euphytica. 127:353-365.

Interpretive Summary: Male sterility is a genetic trait found in carrots and used very widely by the seed industry to produce hybrid carrots, which account for over 90% of the carrots sold in the U.S. today. To be certain whether a carrot plant is male sterile or not, plants must be grown over 180 days, so a system to access male sterility more quickly would be very useful. In this study we developed DNA markers which can accurately predict whether a plant is male sterile after only 20 days. This information is useful for carrot breeders and seed producers to help them better manage carrot male sterility and seed production.

Technical Abstract: Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is essential for the development of highly adapted and uniform hybrid varieties of carrot and other crops. The most widely used type of CMS in carrot is petaloidy, in which the stamens are replaced by petals or bract-like structures. We have developed a series of mitochondria-specific PCR markers to distinguish cytoplasms inducing petaloidy (Sp) and male-fertility (N). The markers target the atp1, atp6, atp9, orfB (atp8), nad6 and cob loci from the mitochondrial genomes of a diverse collection of male fertile and petaloid carrots. We report 14 primer pairs that amplify marker fragments from either Sp or N cytoplasms and three primer pairs that amplify fragments with length polymorphism. The amplification products span sites of insertions, deletions or recombinations adjacent to or within the coding regions of the targeted genes. The markers reported here are useful tools to identify the type of cytoplasm in cultivated carrot and to evaluate variation in the mitochondrial genomes within the genus Daucus.