No abstract

Heterosis is an important way to improve yield and quality for wheat. Effective restoration of fertility, its genetic control however remains elusive. Among 9 reported fertility restorer genes for Triticum timopheevii cytoplasm, Rf8 has been mapped on chromosome 2DS. Two F2populations from crosses,CMS BWL-5203/R-6 and PHW-1 were grown in 2018 off-season at Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Station, Keylong (H.P) to study the efficacy and robustness of markers linked with Rf8. Data was recorded on extent of fertility restoration and three linked markers namely Xwmc503, Xgwm296 and Xwmc112 were used for this study. Among these, Xwmc503 present at 3.3 cM away from Rf8 showed significant association with fertility restoration in both the crosses. In contrast, marker Xgwm296 linked at 5.8 cM did not reveal significant association in any population. However, the third marker Xwmc112 did not get amplified in any of the populations. Xwmc503 marker thus can potentially be useful for selecting restorers with Rf8 gene which further could be used for transferring this very gene into potentially elite genotypes to enrich hybrid male parental pool.