Question

Give the application of mutation breeding?

Answer 1

Hint: This method is used for the deliberate induction and mutation of mutant lines for crop improvement. This term was first introduced by Freisleben and Lien in 1944. The plants produced by mutation breeding are disease resistant and give high yielding.

Complete answer:
Mutation breeding has been used for enhancing morphological and physiological characters, disease resistance, and qualitative characters as well as yielding ability. Mutation breeding is usually used to produce traits in crops like larger seeds, new colors, or sweeter fruits, which either can't be found in nature or are lost during evolution.
The application of mutation breeding are: - It is beneficial in improving certain specific characteristics of a well- adapted high yielding variety which extends the yield of desirable products.
- Inductions of desirable mutant alleles that cannot be present within the normal population or could also be present but might not be available to the breeder thanks to political or geographical reasons. - Mutation breeding also can be used on F1 hybrids or progenies resulting from inter- varietal crosses. These could also be treated with mutagens so as to extend genetic variability by inducing mutations and to facilitate recombination among the linkage group. - Irradiation of inter- specific (distant) hybrids has been done to supply translocations.
- It is also beneficial to obtain insect or pest- resistant plants.
Mutation breeding is made on mutation induction and mutation detection. It has many comparative advantages: it is cost- effective, quick, proven, and robust. It is also transferrable, ubiquitously applicable, non-hazardous, and environmentally friendly. More than 3,200 mutant varieties are there including numerous crops, ornamentals, and trees. They have officially been released for commercial use in addition to 210 plant species from over 70 countries.

Note: Plants created using mutagenesis are sometimes called mutagenic plants or mutagenic seeds. In- plant species, 2252 mutant varieties are developed all over the planet. Exposing plants to radiation is usually called radiation breeding and may be a subclass of mutagenic breeding.