Efforts to chemically induce mutations for cytoplasmic male sterility in petunia. I. Field experiments

Summary In the period 1980–1984 about 70000 selfed seeds of the petunia cultivar Blue Bedder were treated with the chemical mutagens ethidium bromide (EB) and ethylnitroso urea (ENU) with the intention to induce (new sources of) cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). This work resulted in 27 stable male sterile MS-plants, all derived from the ENU-treatments.Crosses with the normal fertile type and with material carrying restorer genes for the common type of CMS in petunia were made. Results obtained from some MS-plants raise a presumption of genic male sterility, probably of the dominant type, having been induced. More detailed investigations are underway.