Correlation between the response of maize lines to CMS and their origin

Abstract

Transferring maize hybrids to a sterile basis is the most important condition for their introduction into production. In this regard, it is important to study the behavior of the initial forms of hybrids, namely self-pollinated lines, in the sterile cytoplasm. The purpose of the current study was to estimate the response of new self-pollinated maize lines, depending on their origin, to the “M” and “C” types of CMS, to identify natural restoring agents and complete sterility fixatives. The study was carried out at the FSBSI “ARC “Donskoy” in 2021–2023. The subjects of the study were 20 new self-pollinated maize lines of various origins, 6 sources of sterility, 120 testcross maize hybrids. There was found that the response of maize lines depended on their origin. Lines belonging to the same group (by origin) usually had the same reaction to the Moldovan (“M”) and Bolivian (“C”) types of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). The closer the lines are related, the smaller the differences. The new self-pollinated lines of the first group ‘SL 171’, ‘SL 172’, ‘SL 174’, ‘SL 175’, ‘SL 176’ and ‘SL 177’ were characterized by complete consolidation of the type “M” of CMS (class 0). Lines of subgroup Ia were fixed, but subgroups Ib did not completely restore the type “C” of sterility. In the second group there were identified the complete ‘SL 181’, ‘SL 182’ (class 4, 5) and incomplete ‘SL 183’, ‘SL 184’ (class 2–5) reducing agents of the type “M” of sterility. There was determined that all lines of the second group perpetuated sterility of the Bolivian type (class 0). There have been identified the lines of the third group ‘SL 191’, ‘SL 192’, ‘SL 193’, ‘SL 194’, as full reducing agents of the type “M” of CMS, two of them ‘SL 191’ and ‘SL 193’ are also complete reducing agents of the type “C” of CMS (class 4, 5). All lines of the fourth group could be classified as complete fixatives (class 0, 1) of the studied types of CMS. The results obtained will improve the efficiency of work on transferring maize hybrids to a sterile basis.