The genetic basis of cytoplasmic male sterility and fertility restoration in wheat

Hybrid wheat varieties give higher yields than conventional lines but are difficult to produce due to a lack of effective control of male fertility in breeding lines. One promising system involves the Rf1 and Rf3 genes that restore fertility of wheat plants carrying Triticum timopheevii-type cytoplasmic male sterility (T-CMS). Here, by genetic mapping and comparative sequence analyses, we identify Rf1 and Rf3 candidates that can restore normal pollen production in transgenic wheat plants carrying T-CMS. We show that Rf1 and Rf3 bind to the mitochondrial orf279 transcript and induce cleavage, preventing expression of the CMS trait. The identification of restorer genes in wheat is an important step towards the development of hybrid wheat varieties based on a CMS-Rf system. The characterisation of their mode of action brings insights into the molecular basis of CMS and fertility restoration in plants. The development of hybrid wheat cultivars is hampered by the lack of an effective way to control male fertility in breeding lines. Here, the authors report the identification of two restorer-of-fertility genes Rf1 and Rf3 that can restore fertility of wheat plants carrying Triticum timopheevii-type cytoplasmic male sterility.