Mutation Techniques for Gene Discovery and Crop Improvement

One of the most important breakthroughs in the history of genetics was the discovery that mutations can be artif icially induced in organisms (van Harten, 1998). Artif icially induced mutations, by physical and chemical muta-

One of the most important breakthroughs in the history of genetics ）was the discovery that mutations can be artificially induced in organisms （van Harten, 1998）. Artificially induced mutations, by physical and chemical mutagens, have greatly advanced the understanding of genetics of higher organisms. Starting in the late 1960＇s, the International Atomic Energy Agency （IAEA） and the Food and Agriculture Organization （FAO） of the United Nations sponsored extensive research on mutation induction and their application to breeding of food and indnstrial crops that resulted in the introduction of new varieties of rice, wheat, barley, apples, citrus, sugar cane, banana, and others （more than 2 500 officially released new varieties are to be found in the FAO/IAEA Mutant Varieties Database） （hitp：//www-mvd.iaea.org/MVD/default.htm）. However, the usefulness of mutation techniques has been underappreciated in research communities, particularly during the last decade, when more and more researchers and breeders were rushing into molecular marker techniques and transgenic plants. In this paper, after a brief review of the past accomplishments of mutation induction and its application, we discuss the uniqueness of induced mutations in gene discovery and how to integrate induced mutants into functional genomics programs;