A mutation causing self‐fertility (SF) in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) was studied at the tetraploid level. The aim of this work was to determine a) whether SF remains functional in a tetraploid population; and b) if the SF mutation expresses dominance in heterozygous pollen grains. A tetraploidized plant carrying SF alleles was self‐pollinated to create a segregating F2 population. In the F2 individuals, pollen compatibility ranged between 38% and 84% showing that SF remained functional. The SF locus genotype was the main determinant of pollen compatibility explaining 78% of the variation. The observed segregation was significantly different from the expected under both SF being dominant or recessive models (P(χ2)≤0.001), and tended to be intermediate between them, indicating partial dominance or additive gene action. The frequency of the different genotypes suggested that pollen grains homozygous for the mutation have a competitive advantage over heterozygous pollen and that pollen compatibility is affected by the interaction with additional loci. The implications of our results for breeding polyploid grasses are discussed.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/thomas-lubberstedt/100/
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Do Canto, Javier, Bruno Studer, Ursula Frei, and Thomas Lübberstedt. "Pattern of inheritance of a self‐fertility gene in an autotetraploid perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) population." Plant Breeding (2019), which has been published in final form at doi: 10.1111/pbr.12765. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.