The development of a nuclear male sterility system in wheat. Expression of the barnase gene under the control of tapetum specific promoters

Nuclear male sterility within Triticum aestivum is considered as the ideal basis for the development of a hybridization system for wheat. We engineered nuclear male sterility in wheat by introducing the barnase gene under the control of tapetum-specific promoters derived from corn and rice. A biolistic-mediated transformation method, based on the use of the poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase inhibitor niacinamide, was set up which enriched for low-copy integrations (1-3 copies). Most of these copies were not linked and segregated in the next generation.