Identification and Genetic Studies of the Inhibition of Dominant Male Sterility in Brassica napus

By transferring dominant male sterility (DMS), caused by the gene Ms, to genotypes with various types of cytoplasm 12 DMS lines were developed and a number of crosses made between the DMS lines and other genotypes of Brassica napus. During the course of this population improvement programme, 16 genotypes were identified as having the capacity to restore the fertility of F₁ plants with the Ms gene. According to pedigree analysis, the inhibitory gene in those lines probably originated from a few genotypes from Australia and Germany. In further studies the inheritance of the sterility inhibition was determined, providing definite evidence that dominant male sterility and its inhibition in B. napus are controlled by two dominant interacting genes rather than by multiple alleles.