Identification of AFLP markers linked to one recessive genic male sterility gene in oilseed rape, Brassica napus

The commercial utilization of heterosis in seed yield by means of hybrid varieties is of great importance for increasing oilseed rape production in China. This requires a functional system for the production of hybrid seed. The Brassica napus oilseed rape line 9012AB is a recessive epistatic genic male sterility (GMS) two‐type line, in which the sterility is controlled by two pairs of recessive duplicate sterile genes (ms1 and ms2) interacting with one pair of a recessive epistatic inhibitor gene (rf). Homozygosity at the rf locus (rfrf) inhibits the expression of the recessive male sterility trait in homozygous ms1ms1ms2ms2 plants. This study was conducted to identify molecular markers for one of the male fertility/sterility loci in the B. napus male sterility line 9012AB. Sterile bulk (BS) and fertile bulk (BF) DNA samples prepared from male sterile and male fertile plants of the homozygous two‐type line 9012AB were subjected to amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) analysis. A total of 256 primer combinations were used and seven markers tightly linked to one recessive genic male sterile gene (ms) were identified. Among them, six fragments co‐segregated with the target gene in the tested population, and the other one had a genetic distance of 4.3 cM. The markers identified in this study will greatly enhance the utilization of recessive GMS for the production of hybrid seed in B. napus oilseed rape in China.