CMS restorer genes and proteins of Brassica napus (canola)

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a widespread trait among higher plants that results from the expression of novel open reading frames (ORFs) in the mitochondrial genome. In most cases, nuclear genes termed restorers-of-fertility (Rf ) have been identified that can suppress the CMS phenotype. Such nuclear restorer genes are specific for a particular form of CMS and function by down-regulating the expression of the novel, CMS-associated mitochondrial ORF. CMS – restorer gene systems offer a means of studying interactions between the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes and are of evolutionary interest because they represent a type of “genomic conflict” or evolutionary “arms race”: maternally inherited, CMS-conferring mtDNAs can spread in a population but as pollen becomes limiting, selective pressure builds for the evolution of a restorer gene that can suppress the CMS. We have discovered novel features of the two forms of CMS,