Mutagenesis in crop improvement under the climate change

The purpose of mutation induction is to enhance mutation rate in a short duration in developing new plant varieties. The occurrence of spontaneous mutation frequency rate is very low and difficult to use in plant breeding. Traditionally mutations are induced by physical (e.g. gamma radiation) and chemical (e.g. ethylmethane sulfonate) mutagen treatment of both seed and vegetatively propagated crops. Recently high energy ion beams have been used for mutation induction. They induce largely deletion mutants. In International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mutant database, over 3000 officially released mutant varieties have been released worldwide in cereals, ornamental plants, fruits, vegetables, and oil crops. As a result, sustainable food production has been maintained. By in vitro selection, desirable mutants with useful agronomical traits, e.g. abiotic and biotic stress tolerant can be isolated in a short period of time. The genetic fidelity of the regenerated plants is highly desirable for developing new improved plant varieties and a useful as a reliable tool for feeding the ever-growing human population, genomic function especially under climate change and limited arable land.