Abnormal pollen development in the fragaria vesca mutant fruitless 1

Authors: Slovin, Janet; Dougherty, Laura

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/14/2023
Publication Date: 11/8/2023
Citation: Slovin, J.P., Dougherty, L.E. 2023. Abnormal pollen development in the fragaria vesca mutant fruitless 1. HortScience. 58(12):1488-1491. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI16961-22.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI16961-22

Interpretive Summary: Strawberries are an important horticultural crop, and consumers demand high quality long lasting fruit. Using mutation as a tool to help us identify which genes are controlling growth and development of strawberries, we can provide breeders with information they require to improve quality and production. We developed a mutant of the woodland strawberry that does not make fruit. The mutant results from a mutation in a single gene so it will be possible to identify the gene using DNA sequencing. Using microscopy we showed that the male reproductive organs, the anthers, fail to develop properly and do not produce pollen. Normal pollen is required for fruit production. This mutant will allow plant researchers to identify genes controlling anther and pollen development so that breeders can use this information to improve strawberry fruit production.

Technical Abstract: Knowledge of the genes underlie a given trait is highly useful for developing molecular markers for breeding, and is the foundation for future genomic crop improvements. The dessert strawberry, Fragaria xananassa, is a valuable horticultural crop. Genome sequencing revealed that of the four diploid strawberry subgenomes contributing to the F. xananassa octoploid genome, that of the woodland strawberry, F. vesca, is dominant. Thus, F. vesca is a useful system for determining gene function, and should be a useful source of gene diversity for breeding of F. xananassa. EMS mutagenesis of H4 F7-3, an inbred line of F. vesca resulted in one M2 line that did not produce any strawberries over a three year period in the greenhouse. This line was named fruitless1. The fruitless 1 phenotype results from a single gene recessive mutation. Microscopic characterization revealed that fruitless 1 failed to produce fruit because anthers and pollen fail to develop properly. A brief characterization of fruitless 1 is presented to facilitate further studies of the line.