CONSTRUCTION OF BACKCROSSED GELIDIUM MALE-STERILE AND MALE-FERTILE LINES AND THEIR GROWTH COMPARISON

The male sterility gene from a male-sterile, green, Gelidium vagum lin e was introduced to a wild-type line through repeated backcrossing and selection for five generations. The plants from the recurrent parent, the male-sterile green, the backcross-5 fertile and the backcross-5 m ale-sterile lines were compared for their growth performance. The back cross-5, red, male-sterile plants grew at a significantly higher rate than the plants from other lines, suggesting that male-sterile gametop hytes would likely be better candidates for aquaculture than normal wi ld-type plants of this species. This study also provides evidence that the growth rate of G. vagum decreases as a consequence of reproductio n.