Abstract：Hybrid production using male sterile in pepper has been made great progress. However, the molecular mechanism of male sterile is still not clear. Using anthers as material, differential expression of genic male sterile-fertile line in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) was analyzed by cDNA-AFLP. One hundred and sixty-eight transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) were obtained. Most of the TDFs were not found homologous sequence in GenBank, probably standing for new genes. Forty-eighty TDFs were found homologous sequence(GenBankAccession No.: JK993564~JK993611). These genes were involved in primary metabolism (25%), signal transduction (6.3%), plant development (10.4%), stress response (4.2%), transcription (14.6%), etc.. Twenty-four TDFs were chosen for semi-quantitative RT-PCR to detect the expression pattern in various tissues and different development stages of anther in fertile and sterile plants. The results showed that 11 TDFs displayed expression specificity in time and space and might be male sterile related genes. TDF14 and TDF21 were anther specifically expressed genes and TDF39 specifically expressed in fertile anthers and sepals of fertile and sterile plants. These findings can provide a basic data for molecular mechanism research of genic male sterile, subsequent marker assisted selection and cloning of fertility-related genes in pepper.
