The use of mitochondrial DNA polymorphism in the classification of individual onion plants by cytoplasmic genotypes

Summary Individual plants of a Japanese onion variety Sapporo-ki, which is characterized by the occasional occurrence of male-sterile plants, have been investigated for mitochondrial (mt) DNA polymorphism. Male-fertile and the Jones' cytoplasmic male-sterile (CMS) onions were also included for comparison. Southern blot hybridization with rrn26, cox-I, cox-II, cob, atpA and atp9 genes as probes revealed the two classes of mtDNA variation within a population of Sapporo-ki: Out of the 41 plants examined 19 contained mtDNA typical of malefertile plants, and 22 individuals contained mtDNA typical of the Jones' CMS genotype. Our results thus indcate that the use of the mitochondrial gene probes may greatly facilitate the classification of individual plants by cytoplasmic genotypes.