Application of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Markers for Selection of Male Sterility in Crop Plants

Male sterility is an important trait and plays a key role for hybrid crop production in agricultural industry field. Different genes and enzymes are involved with male sterile traits. Dysfunction of these genes in any stage of male reproductive system often results in male sterility i.e., the inability to produce functional pollen. Functional male sterility can be utilized in the production of hybrid seed. During plant breeding for hybrid crop production, a lot of genetic diversities are created. Plant breeding is enhanced by the availability of molecular markers for rapid screening and selection in populations. Molecular markers are useful for a variety of purposes relevant to crop improvement. Functional markers that detect the functional mutations causing phenotypic changes offer a precise method for genetic identification. Various DNA markers are available now in plant breeding sectors. Among all of these markers, the new generation molecular markers called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are most abundant, robust and feasible because of its availability in whole genome and that they play a key role in the induction of phenotypic variations like male sterility. In this review, we described the classification and mechanism of male sterility in crops, the genes responsible for male sterility, and application of SNP markers for selection of male sterile plants.