Abstract

SODIUM AZIDE INDUCED MUTAGENESIS IN WHEAT PLANT

Shailja Dubey, Renu Bist and Shrilekha Misra*

ABSTRACT

Sodium azide, a chemical mutagen has become important tool to enhance agronomic traits of crop plants. It is being used to produce resistance in various susceptible crops to improve their yield and quality traits against harmful pathogens. There are several mutagens available for crop improvement and each mutagen has its important role as positive or negative effects on crops. Sodium azide creates point mutation in the genome of plants through metabolite and thus produced protein in mutant plants has different function compared to the normal plants. The mutant plants produced by the treatment of sodium azide are capable to survive under various adverse conditions and have improved yields, increased stress tolerance, longer shelf life and reduced agronomic input in comparison to normal plants.

Keywords: Sodium azide, crop improvement, wheat, breeding, mutagenesis.