Synthesis of male sterile, triazine-resistant Brassica napus by somatic hybridization between cytoplasmic male sterile B. oleracea and atrazine-resistant B. campestris.

Fusion of leaf protoplasts from an inbred line of Brassica oleracea ssp. botrytis (cauliflower, n=9) carrying the Ogura (R1) male sterile cytoplasm with hypocotyl protoplasts of B. campestris ssp. oleifera (cv "Candle", n=10) carrying an atrazine-resistant (ATR) cytoplasm resulted in the production of synthetic B. napus (n=19). Thirty-four somatic hybrids were produced; they were characterized for morphology, phosphoglucose isomerase isoenzymes, ribosomal DNA hybridization patterns, chromosome numbers, and organelle composition. All somatic hybrids carried atrazine-resistant chloroplasts derived from B. campestris. The mitochondrial genomes in 19 hybrids were examined by restriction endonuclease and Southern blot analyses. Twelve of the 19 hybrids contained mitochondria showing novel DNA restriction patterns; of these 12 hybrids, 5 were male sterile and 7 were male fertile. The remaining hybrids contained mitochondrial DNA that was identical to that of the ATR parent and all were male fertile.