Cytoplasmic male sterility in Nicotiana tabacum L. obtained through interspecific hybridization

Three new sources of cytoplasmic male sterility in tobacco with interspecific origin are reported. The wild species Nicotiana excelcior Black (n = 19), N. amplexicaulis Burbidge (n = 18) and N. rustica L. (n = 24) are used as donor of cytoplasm. Nuclear donor is N. tabacum L. (n = 24). The genetic effects of cytoplasmic-nuclear interactions of the studied species are discussed. Our experiments prove that N. excelcior, N. amplexicaulis and N. rustica are carriers of cytoplasmic genes for male sterility that express in combination with nuclear genes of N. tabacum. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.