Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Sunflower and Plant Biology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #376505
Research Project: Genetic Enhancement of Sunflower Yield and Tolerance to Biotic Stress

Location: Sunflower and Plant Biology Research

Title: Map and sequence-based chromosome walking towards cloning of the male fertility restoration gene Rf5 linked to R11 in sunflower

Author
item MA, GUOJIA - North Dakota State University
item LONG, YUMING - North Dakota State University
item SONG, QIJIAN - North Dakota State University
item TALUKDER, ZAHIRUL - North Dakota State University
item Shamimuzzaman, Md - Shamim
item Qi, Lili

Submitted to: Scientific Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/11/2020
Publication Date: 1/12/2021
Citation: Ma, G., Long, Y., Song, Q., Talukder, Z.I., Shamimuzzaman, M., Qi, L. 2021. Map and sequence-based chromosome walking towards cloning of the male fertility restoration gene Rf5 linked to R11 in sunflower. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80659-6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80659-6

Interpretive Summary: Sunflower is the second most important hybrid crop worldwide, which relies on the compatible combination of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) source and a corresponding restorer-of-fertility (Rf) gene. Global sunflower production largely relies on a single CMS and its corresponding fertility restoration gene Rf1 for half a century, even though more than 70 CMS cytoplasms have been identified in sunflower, which puts a potential threat to sunflower production due to genetic vulnerability. A new Rf gene, Rf5, was identified from a sunflower wild species, and mapped to sunflower chromosome 13 linked to a rust resistance gene R11. In the present study, new SNP markers tightly linked to the Rf5 and R11 genes were developed using a next generation sequencing technology. The diagnostic markers of R11 will be valuable tools for sunflower rust resistance breeding. In addition, fine mapping positioned Rf5 and R11 into a very small interval containing few candidate genes which lays the foundation to clone the genes in the future and to uncover the mechanisms behind rust resistance and fertility restoration.

Technical Abstract: The nuclear fertility restorer gene Rf5 in HA-R9, originating from the wild sunflower species Helianthus annuus, is able to restore the widely used PET1 cytoplasmic male sterility in sunflowers. Previous mapping placed Rf5 at an interval of 5.8 cM on sunflower chromosome 13, distal to a rust resistance gene R11 at a 1.6 cM distance in an SSR map. In the present study, publicly available SNP markers were further mapped around Rf5 and R11 using 192 F2 individuals, reducing the Rf5 interval from 5.8 to 0.8 cM. Additional SNP markers were developed in the target region of the two genes from the whole genome resequencing of HA-R9, a donor line carrying Rf5 and R11. Fine mapping using 3,517 F3 individuals placed Rf5 at a 0.00071 cM intervaland the gene cosegregated with SNP marker S13_216392091. Similarly, fine mapping performed using 8,795 F3 individuals mapped R11 at an interval of 0.00210 cM, co-segregating with two SNP markers, S13_225290789 and C13_181790141. Sequence analysis identified Rf5 as a pentatricopeptide repeat-encoding gene. The high-density map and diagnostic SNP markers developed in this study will accelerate the use of Rf5 and R11 in sunflower breeding.