GAMMA-RAY-INDUCED MUTANTS IN A JAPANESE VARIETY OF COMMON WHEAT
1967 Volume 42 Issue 3 Pages 175-187
Details
1967 Volume 42 Issue 3 Pages 175-187
Dry seeds of a Japanese variety of common wheat (6x), Shinchunaga, were irradiated with 10 to 40 kR of gamma rays from 60Co. No chlorophyll mutations were detected, while various kinds of morphological mutants were found in the X2 through X8 generations. About one third of the morphological mutants were found in the X2, another third in the X3, and the remaining third in the later generations.
The lack of any chlorophyll mutation and the frequent occurrence of various morphological mutations are considered to indicate that there is a difference in the extent of differentiation in this polyploid plant between essential genes such as those for chlorophyll production and non-essential genes such as those determining spike length or density.
Many speltoid, compactoid, squareheaded, lax-spiked and dense-spiked mutants were found, as well as various other mutants. Cytogenetical investigations were performed on these morphological mutants, and it was found that most of these morphological mutants were caused by various chromosomal aberrations, such as deficiencies, telocentrics, isochromosomes, and various aneuploid constitutions.
