Abstract
Mutation breeding and functional genomics studies of mutant populations have made important contributions to plant research involving the application of radiation. The frequency and spectrum of induced mutations have long been regarded as the crucial determinants of the efficiency of the development and use of mutant populations. Systematic studies regarding the mutation frequency and spectrum, including genetic and genomic analyses, have recently resulted in considerable advances. These studies have consistently shown that the mutation frequency and spectrum are affected by diverse factors, including radiation type, linear energy transfer, and radiation dose, as well as the plant tissue type and condition. Moreover, the whole-genome sequencing of mutant individuals based on next-generation sequencing technologies has enabled the genome-wide quantification of mutation frequencies according to DNA mutation types as well as the elucidation of mutation mechanisms based on sequence characteristics. These studies will contribute to the development of a highly efficient and more controlled mutagenesis method relevant for the customized research of plants. We herein review the characteristics of radiation-induced mutations in plants, mainly focusing on recent whole-genome sequencing analyses as well as factors affecting the mutation frequency and spectrum.
Highlights
Radiation has been widely applied to develop new cultivars used for crop production and as genetic resources for functional genomics studies in the 90 years since Stadler [1,2] first published the results of mutations induced by irradiation in crops
We introduce the plant factors influencing the frequency and spectrum of mutations induced by irradiation
They suggested that an alternative end-joining (A-EJ) pathway instead of the C-non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway may be mainly responsible for the DNA repair during the application of high-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation; this will be discussed in more detail later
Summary
Radiation has been widely applied to develop new cultivars used for crop production and as genetic resources for functional genomics studies in the 90 years since Stadler [1,2] first published the results of mutations induced by irradiation in crops. An in-depth characterization of the mutagenic effects for a specific irradiation treatment is very important for breeding and functional genomics studies. Because the frequency and 74 sequences of mutant alleles for specific genes were analyzed in these studies, the mutation frequency. Quantum Beam Sci. 2019, 3, 7 alleles for specific genes were analyzed in these studies, the mutation frequency for a single gene and the characteristics of the mutated sequences were revealed. The reported whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis and construction of a mutation database for 1504 individuals in a large mutant population might mark the beginning of the era of radiation mutation breeding based on complete genome sequences [26,27]
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