Mutagenesis techniques in plant tissue cultures

Mutant plant cell cultures can be useful in the study of the physiology and genetics of plants, as well for the improvement of crops. For recent reviews of mutant cell selection from tissue cultures, the reader is referred to Duncan and Widholm (1), Bright et al. (2), Flick (3), and Chapters 39 - 42 , in this vol. Often these mutants have been obtained through selection procedures exploiting spontaneous mutations. However, the use of mutagens in culture systems has been shown to result in higher frequencies of mutant cells. Although mutagens can increase the frequency of the desired mutation in a population of cells, the frequency of undesirable mutations would also be increased. These undesirable mutations can make the produced material unusable because of properties such as slow growth, lack of plant regeneration, and sterility. Thus, one has to weigh the benefits of mutagenesis against the detrimental effects.