Deciphering the inheritance of fertility restoration and influence of environmental factors on maldandi source of male sterility in rabi sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]

This study aimed to investigate the inheritance pattern of fertility restoration in hybrids resulting from crosses between a male sterile line (M31‐2A), a maldandi cytoplasm, and two promising restorers (DSMR‐4 and DSMR‐8). The evaluation of hybrids was conducted in two sets of experiments, including the F2, BC1F1 and F2, F3 generations. The segregation pattern was analysed in the F2 and BC1F1 generations, resulting in a 54:10 ratio of fertile to sterile plants and a 1:1 ratio of fertile to sterile plants, respectively. This indicated the involvement of three genes, at least two of which must be in a dominant condition for restoration to occur, acting in a duplicate complementary manner. In the F3 generation, both crosses were grown to confirm the stability of restorers, and they segregated in the ratio of 10 true‐breeding families and 44 segregating families, which was consistent with the F2 ratio. Additionally, this study observed the influence of rainfall on the partial restoration pattern over seasons, as restorer genes are up or down‐regulated depending on the availability of water.