ABSTRACT

The Rfm1 gene restores the fertility of the msm1 and msm2 male-sterile cytoplasms in barley. Rfm1 is located on the short arm of chromosome 6H. To develop molecular markers tightly linked to Rfm1 for use in sophisticated marker-assisted selection and map-based cloning, an amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) marker system with isogenic lines and a segregating BC 1 F 1 population was used. Nine hundred primer combinations were screened and a linkage map was constructed around the Rfm1 locus by using 25 recombinant plants selected from 214 BC 1 F 1 plants. Three AFLP markers were identified, e34m2, e46m19 and e48m17, linked to the locus. The most closely linked markers were e34m2, at 1.0 cM distally and e46m19, at 1.1 cM proximally. The two AFLP markers were converted to dominant STS markers. These markers should accelerate programmes for breeding restorer lines and will be useful for map-based cloning.