Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) hybrids, grown widely in India and to some extent in the US, are all based on an A 1 CMS source, leaving the pearl millet hybrids vulnerable to potential disease or insect pest epidemics. A comparison of this CMS system with two additional CMS systems (A 4 and A 5 ) in the present study based on isonuclear A-lines (seed parents) and their isonuclear hybrids showed that A-lines with the A 4 cytoplasm had much fewer pollen shedders and much reduced selfed seed set in visually assessed non-shedding plants as compared to those with the A 1 cytoplasm. A-lines with the A 5 cytoplasm had neither any pollen shedders nor did they set any seed when selfed. This showed that the A 5 CMS system imparts complete and most stable male sterility, followed by the A 4 and A 1 CMS systems. The frequency of maintainers, averaged across a diverse range of 26 populations, was highest for the A 5 CMS system (98%), followed by the A 4 (59%) and the A 1 (34%) system indicating the greatest prospects for genetic diversiWcation of A-lines lies with the A 5 cytoplasm, and the least with the A 1 cytoplasm. Mean grain yield of hybrids with the A 1 cytoplasm was 5% more than the A 4 -system hybrids, while there was no diVerence between the mean grain yield of hybrids based on A 1 and A 5 CMS systems. Based on these results, it is suggested that seed parents breeding eYciency will be the greatest with the A 5 CMS system, followed by the A 4 CMS system, and least with the currently commercial A 1 CMS system.
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