Mutation Breeding and Its Importance in Modern Plant Breeding: A Review

Abstract

A mutation is an abrupt, heritable alteration in a living cell's DNA that is not brought about by genetic recombination or segregation. The deliberate use of mutations in plant breeding is known as "mutation breeding." Mutation breeding provides the advantage of improving a fault in an otherwise excellent cultivar without sacrificing its agronomic and qualitative features, in contrast to hybridization and selection. There is no simpler solution than mutation breeding to enhance seedless crops. These benefits have led to the development of a market for mutation breeding in plant breeding since the initial release of mutant cultivars derived from fundamental mutation research in Europe. Both physical and chemical mutagens have improved methods for inducing mutations in major crops, and strategies for selecting mutant populations have been detailed. A broad range of mutations that have not been previously documented have been detected, and new mutagenic factors like cosmic rays and ion beam radiation are being studied. However, ionising radiation and alkylating chemicals continue to be widely used. The efficiency of mutant breeding has increased as a result of the advent of reliable in vitro methods for numerous crop species. In vitro methods are particularly effective because they can manage sizable mutagenized populations in a small area, have a quicker progeny turnover rate in vegetatively propagated species, and can screen for a variety of biotic and abiotic stress factors in the culture environment. Over the last ten years, there have been significant advancements in mutant screening, with reverse genetic methods now being prioritised. Thus, the combination of molecular methods and mutation techniques is opening up new and intriguing possibilities for contemporary plant breeding.