Chemical Mutagenesis

    There was a challenge for agricultural scientists in 50th years. They were short of diverse materials, which could represent the common features for experiments. Agricultural experts began to treat the cultivated and planting material with chemical mutagens. Among the original materials that were exposed to treatment there were not only seeds but also stalks, onions, bulbs and roots. Scientists had found the most effective doses and ways of using different chemical mutagens for the majority of agricultural plants. The selection of cotton, strawberries, sugar beets and many other plants were performed separately under the special conditions. Very soon there were noticeable results in genetic engineering. In 70th years the first types of hem mutants had appeared in some areas. It took only five years to select new sorts of winter-annual wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, lupine, and tobacco. In general, there were hem mutant sorts of such well-known plants as chamomile, amaranth, Sudan grass, winter raps, holy clover and many others. The agricultural experts managed to get high productive sorts of perennial plants, such as strawberries, raspberries, buckthorn, cherries, tulips, and others. The ways of using the chemical mutagens in selecting agricultural plants are very diverse: the direct appliance of mutagens, including specific mutagen forms into breeding, fixation of the achieved somatic communication and so on. The process was going on very successfully.