A UGPase1-blocked Male Sterility Mutant and Its Pos- sible Use in Hybrid Seed Production of Rice

A rice genic male-sterile mutant was induced by chemical mutagenesis using N-methyl-N-nitrosourea, which had a pleiotropic effect on chalky endosperm. The mutant gene, ms-h, was isolated through a map-based cloning approach. The suppression of UGPase activity, caused by a splicing error at the 3’ splice junction of the 14th intron of the UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase 1 (UGPase1; EC 2.7.7.9) gene, was the cause of male sterility. This was confirmed by both RNAi and complementation-transgenic experiments. The endosperm of the mutant had more roundish and smaller starch granules, a higher frequency of long glucose chain amylose, higher ratio of Fr. III to Fr. II chains, and shorter branching of amylopectin than the wild type parent. A hybrid seed production system was proposed using the pleiotropic effect of UGPase1 gene on male-sterility and chalky endosperm. Relatively low density of chalky seeds may facilitate the early detection of male-sterile seeds in segregating populations prior to sowing by density-gradient method.