普通小麦属于自花授粉作物，隐性核雄性不育遗传资源是培育不育系，进行杂交育种的重要基础。然而由于多倍体基因组的复杂性，普通小麦育性基因的研究还比较滞后。小麦育性基因的克隆对于小麦育种来说价值巨大。澳大利亚阿德莱德大学和悉尼大学以及杜邦先锋公司的研究人员最近就克隆了小麦育性基因Ms1。

        上世纪50年代，澳大利亚的科学家们发现了一个小麦自然雄性不育突变体 “Pugsley”（ms1a），紧接着利用辐射诱变获得了 “Probus” （ms1b）和 “Cornerstone”（ms1c）突变体，后来研究人员通过EMS和TILLING诱变，获得了一系列Ms1突变体ms1d、ms1e、ms1f 和ms1h，但是Ms1基因一直未被克隆。直到最近，研究人员利用图位克隆技术成功获得了TaMs1基因。

        TaMs1基因位于4B染色体短臂上，编码了一个糖基磷脂酰肌醇（GPI）锚定的脂转运蛋白，该蛋白在花粉壁的发育过程中起到了重要的作用。ms1a、ms1b和ms1c 突变体都是由于染色体大片段缺失的结果。ms1d、ms1e、ms1f 和ms1h都是点突变的结果。而TaMs1基因可以恢复突变体不育系的育性。

        TaMs1基因的克隆有助于利用基因工程快速构建小麦隐性核雄性不育系，也能够构建类似玉米的SPT系统。

        经查询，该基因已被先锋国际良种公司于2015年申报专利 “Wheat Ms1 Polynucleotides,Polypeptides, And Methods Of Use (WO 2016/048891 A1)” 。

Nature Communications, 8: 869; 11 October 2017

Molecular identification of the wheat male fertility gene Ms1 and its prospects for hybrid breeding

Author

Elise J. Tucker, Ute Baumann, Allan Kouidri……Marc C. Albertsen, A. Mark Cigan & Ryan Whitford*

*: Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, School of Agriculture, Food & Wine, University of Adelaide, Australia

Abstract

The current rate of yield gain in crops is insufficient to meet the predicted demands. Capturing the yield boost from heterosis is one of the few technologies that offers rapid gain. Hybrids are widely used for cereals, maize and rice, but it has been a challenge to develop a viable hybrid system for bread wheat due to the wheat genome complexity, which is both large and hexaploid. Wheat is our most widely grown crop providing 20% of the calories for humans. Here, we describe the identification of Ms1, a gene proposed for use in large-scale, low-cost production of male-sterile (ms) female lines necessary for hybrid wheat seed production. We show that Ms1 completely restores fertility to ms1d, and encodes a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored lipid transfer protein, necessary for pollen exine development. This represents a key step towards developing a robust hybridization platform in wheat.