Development of a semi-dwarf dominant genic male sterile wheat with seed red fluorescence as a visible marker.

Taigu genic male-sterile wheat, containing the dominant gene male sterile (Ms) 2, shows completely male-sterility in different genetic background and under various environments. The development of Aibai wheat with tightly linked Ms2 and Reduced height (Rht)-D1c, offers possibility for identifying the male-sterile plants by investigation of reduced plant height. However, due to the extreme dwarfism of Aibai wheat caused by Rht-D1c, it inhabits a shadowed microenvironment caused by its fertile sibling plants. This results in delayed maturation of sterile plant progeny. In order to develop a novel germplasm with new visible marker for sorting male sterile plants conferred by Ms2, a binary vector containing Bar, Ms2, Rht-D1b, and DsRed driven by the aleurone-specific promoter Ltp2 was constructed and introduced into the wheat Fielder using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in this study. After investigation of the fertility, plant height and seed fluorescence of positive transgenic wheat plants, a line exhibited semi-dwarf male sterility, which could be reliably identified by the aleurone-specifically expressed red fluorescence in seeds, serving as a genetically stable reporter. Therefore, this study provides a novel male-sterile wheat that offers a powerful tool for hybrid seed production and facilitates genetic improvement in wheat through recurrent selection.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-025-01571-3.