Mapping of sex determination loci on the white campion (Silene latifolia) Y chromosome using amplified fragment length polymorphism

S. latifolia is a dioecious plant with morphologically distinct sex chromosomes. To genetically map the sex determination loci on the male-specific Y chromosome, we identified X-ray-induced sex determination mutants that had lost male traits. We used male-specific AFLP markers to characterize the extent of deletions in the Y chromosomes of the mutants. We then compared overlapping deletions to predict the order of the AFLP markers and to locate the mutated sex-determining genes. We found three regions on the Y chromosome where frequent deletions were significantly associated with loss of male traits. One was associated with hermaphroditic mutants. A second was associated with asexual mutants that lack genes needed for early stamen development and a third was associated with asexual mutants that lack genes for late stages of stamen development. Our observations confirmed a classical genetic prediction that S. latifolia has three dispersed male-determining loci on the Y chromosome, one for carpel suppression, one for early stamen development, and another for late stamen development. This AFLP map provides a framework for locating genes on the Y chromosome and for characterizing deletions on the Y chromosomes of potentially interesting mutants.