A new gene for male sterility in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L). Millsp.)

Summary

Several forms of female fertile and male sterile mutants in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L). Millsp.) have been reported. A translucent anther type of male sterile characterised by non-separation of tetrads that is associated with a persistent tapetum is conditioned by a single recessive gene, ms₁ (Reddy et al., 1977; Reddy et al., 1978). By contrast, a male sterile plant identified in breeding line B15B by Wallis et al. (1981) has shrivelled, arrowhead-shaped, non-dehiscent, brown-coloured anthers, and the pollen mother cells degenerate at the early tetrad stage (Dundas et al., 1981). This paper reports studies to determine the inheritance of the B15B male sterile character and its allelic relationship to the translucent anther type.