Purpose of description

Finger millet is a highly self-pollinated crop. Crossing is therefore difficult and limited to parents w i t h contrasting morphological markers. The presence of the ms1 allele w i l l make crossing easier in finger millet. The ms1 allele can also help to measure heterosis and to develop random-mating populations for recurrent selection.

Origin

To induce mutations, M0 seeds of the finger millet line IE 3318 = SDFM 63 from Zimbabwe) were treated w i th 1.5% aqueous solution of ethyl methane sulfonate for 6 h at 25°C in 1990. Treated seeds were sown and a single male-sterile plant was observed in a population of 2500 M2 progeny during the 1991/92 rainy season. Open-pollinated seeds from this plant were harvested and sown in Jan 1993. Five single-crosses (bagged, malesterile x male-fertile heads) were made in the M3 generation. The M4 full-sib progenies were sown in Sep 1993. Two families segregated for male-sterility, while all the plants from the other three full-sib families were fertile. Four plant x plant crosses were made within one of the segregating M4 families. Seed did not set on nonpollinated male-sterile panicles that had been bagged to prevent natural cross-pollination. A total of 383 plants of M5 full-sib progeny from the four crosses were sown in isolation in Jun 1995 at a plant density of 125 000 plants ha-1. Progenies were morphologically similar and the ratio of male-fertile to male-sterile plants fitted a test of 1:1 in each cross. The harvest from open-pollinated male-sterile plants was bulked to produce I N FM 95001.