Segregation distortion in a region containing a male-sterility, female-sterility locus in soybean

In diploid segregation, each alternative allele has a 50% chance of being passed on to the offspring. Mutations in genes involved in the process of meiotic division or early stages of reproductive cell development can affect allele frequency in the gametes. In addition, competition among gametes and differential survival rates of gametes can lead to segregation distortion. In a recent transformation study, a male-sterile, female-sterile (MSFS) mutant was identified in the soybean cultivar, Williams. The mutant in heterozygous condition segregated 3 fertile:1 sterile in the progeny confirming monogenic inheritance. To map the lesion, we generated an F2 mapping population by crossing the mutant (in heterozygous condition) with Minsoy (PI 27890). The F2 progeny showed strong segregation distortion against the MSFS phenotype. The objectives of our study were to molecularly map the gene responsible for sterility in the soybean genome, to determine if the MSFS gene is a result of T-DNA insertion during Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, and to map the region that showed distorted segregation. The fertility/sterility locus was mapped to molecular linkage group (MLG) D1a (chromosome Gm01) using bulked segregant analysis. The closest marker, Satt531, mapped 9.4 cM from the gene. Cloning of insertion sites for T-DNA in the mutant plants revealed that there are two copies of T-DNA in the genome. Physical locations of these insertion sites do not correlate with the map location of the MSFS gene, suggesting that MSFS mutation may not be associated with T-DNA insertions. Segregation distortion was most extreme at or around the st_A06-2/6 locus suggesting that sterility and segregation distortion are tightly linked attributes. Our results cue that the distorted segregation may be due to a gamete elimination system.

► We used bulked segregant analysis to map sterility locus (st_A06-2/6) in soybean.
► Satt320 and Satt531 flank st_A06-2/6 on molecular linkage group (MLG) D1a.
► T-DNA insertion sites do not correlate with the map location of st_A06-2/6.
► The st_A06-2/6 locus and segregation distortion are tightly linked attributes.
► The distorted segregation may be due to the gamete elimination system.