DEVELOPMENT OF RAPD MARKERS LINKED TO THE MALE-STERILE MS-3 GENE IN MELON

The male-sterile gene (ms-3) identified in muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) has been introgressed into fertile melon cultivars/breeding lines for use as F₁ hybrid parents.
Molecular markers linked to the ms-3 gene would be useful in transferring the male-sterile gene into elite cultivars/lines using backcrossing.
However, markers linked to the ms-3 gene in melon have not been reported.
Our objective was to identify random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers linked to the male-sterile ms-3 gene using bulked segregant analysis in an F₂ population from the melon cross of ms-3 (male-sterile) x ‘Dulce’ (male-fertile). The parents, 141 F₂ plants, and 47 F₃ families (18 plants per F₃) were planted in two separate greenhouse experiments.
A single recessive gene controlling the male-sterile trait was found in the F₂ and confirmed in the F₃. A total of 680 primers was screened between two different bulks prepared from homozygous male-sterile and fertile F₂ plants.
Two RAPD markers OAM08.650 and OAN05.800 that displayed an amplified DNA fragment in the male-sterile bulk were detected to be linked to the ms-3 gene.
Marker OAM08.650 was the most closely linked to the ms-3 gene at a distance of 2.1 cM. This marker was also present in each of 18 heterozygous fertile melon maintainers carrying the ms-3 gene.
Marker OAM08.650 closely linked to the ms-3 gene identified here could be used for rapid backcrossing of the male-sterile gene into elite melon cultivars/lines.

XXVI International Horticultural Congress: Advances in Vegetable Breeding

S.O. Park, K.M. Crosby

Cucumis melo L., recessive gene, bulked segregant analysis, marker-assisted backcrossing

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.637.29