Fine‐scale molecular genetic (RFLP) and physical mapping of a 8.9 cM region on the top arm of Arabidopsis chromosome 5 encompassing the male sterility gene, ms1

Fine‐scale molecular mapping has been conducted using 183 recombinants between the markers lutescens (lu; 17.6 cM) and transparent testa glabra (ttg; 35.5 cM) on the top arm of Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 5. This region contains a number of genes involved in floral development including Ms1, a gene required for the post‐meiotic development of pollen. In homozygous ms1 mutant plants, pollen development is aborted soon after microspore release, regardless of environmental conditions. The ms1 mutation is located at 29.8 ± 0.8 cM on chromosome 5. Markers have been identified which co‐segregate with ms1 and should lie within 39 kb of the gene. The fine‐scale map of the lu‐ms1‐ttg region that has been generated is significantly different from the published integrated map and provides substantially more accurate and higher marker density than the current recombinant inbred map for this region. Using clones derived from four yeast artificial chromosome libraries, a contig has been established between the RFLP markers 4111 and 4556, which encompasses the ms1 gene. This covers a genetic distance of 8.9 cM which corresponds to a physical distance of approximately 1.44 Mb, representing about 1.5–2.0% of the Arabidopsis genome. In this region, 1 cM represents a physical distance of approximately 160 kb.