Conflict in a Gynodioecious Plant and the Cost of Male Fertility Restoration

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In plants, cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes are able to spread by blocking pollen production (male reproduction) because they are maternally inherited and cause increased seed production. An individual that carries CMS has reduced ability to transmit nuclear genes; thus, nuclear male fertility restoration (Rf) genes have arisen to counteract the effects of the CMS genes by reinstating pollen production. The Rf genes have a detrimental effect on overall reproduction, however, called the cost of restoration, which is a key to understanding the spread of CMS and Rf genes. The goal of this proposal is to perform a powerful experiment to measure the cost of restoration in a plant model system, Silene vulgaris. The cost of restoration will be measured as the strength of the correlation between total reproductive output and the ability to restore male fertility.The proposed studies will provide vital information regarding the spread of maternally inherited genetic diseases and interactions between cytoplasmic and nuclear genes. Moreover, this research may generate novel genes for crop breeding. An undergraduate assistant and a postdoctoral associate will be trained, opportunities for graduate student participation will be available, and new instrumentation will be purchased for research at the University of Alaska.