Abstract:The photoperiod-sensitive male sterile rice, Nongken 58S, was obtained as a spontaneous mutant of the Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica cultivar "Nongken 58". To determine the chromosomal location of the locus related to the fertility difference between Nongken 58S and its wild-type ancestor, the authors assayed the DNA polymorphisms between these two varieties using a total of over 300 RFLP probes covering the entire molecular marker linkage map. Seven probes detected polymor- phisms between "Nongken 58" and Nongken 58S. Two probes, RG30 and RZ626, both from chromosome 7, happened to be located in the genomic region of pmsl, a locus for photoperiod-sensitive male sterility identified in the authors‘ previous study. These two probes were used to assay a random sample of 140 individuals from a F2 population of a cross between Nongken 58S and "Nongken 58", in which the fertility segregated in a typical 3: 1 ratio. An analysis of variance of the fertility using the RFLP genotypes as the groups clearly evidenced that these two marker loci are not linked to the locus associated fertility segregation in this population. It is concluded that the locus relevant to fertility difference between Nongken 58S and "Nongken 58" is not in the vicinity of the pmsl region.