MUTATION BREEDING OF GRAIN LEGUMES

Genetic variation among existing cultivars and in germplasm collection s is the outcome of selection during evolution and plant breeding. Mut agenesis offers the plant breeder a chance to tackle unconventional ob jectives, particularly those that were at a selection disadvantage in the past. Effective mutagens are available, but the bottleneck is the effective selection of rare desired variants from large mutagenized po pulations. Selection methods must be non-destructive. Grain legume mut ation breeding has already led to improved cultivars with higher yield , better grain quality, or stronger resistance to pathogens. Many muta tions affecting nitrogen fixation related traits have also been report ed. Some could be useful in breeding better cultivars, but the majorit y are being used to study the factors interacting in the complex proce ss of symbiotic nitrogen fixation and to improve the strategy for prod ucing cultivars with better fixation capacity.