Determination of Effective Mutagen Dose for Carrot (Daucus carota ssp. sativus var. atrorubens alef and D. carota) Callus Cultures

Abstract

Mutation breeding is used for plant variety, to obtain high yield, earliness, resistance to pest and diseases and also to abiotic stress conditions. Gamma radiation application in physical mutagen applications has advantages on the ease of use, the high permeability and the ability to reach the target cells and the nontoxic and harmful effects. It expanses the present variation by creating a mutation with physical mutagenesis via Co 60 irradiation applied to in vitro donor plant tissues, and provides selection of variations at the cellular level in desired properties. Carrot is an important vegetable crops and in demand by the local markets throughout the year. This study was carried out to obtain a database and to determine the Effective Mutagen Dose (EMD50) in the course of mutation breeding studies on purple and orange carrots. For this aim, 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 Gray (Gy) doses of Co 60 (gamma-rays) were applied to carrots calli as a physical mutagen of 30 callus pieces (each 1 g) per dose. 4-5 weeks after irradiation, shoot development of callus were determined and EMD50 calculated by linear regression analyses. As a result of the research, it was determined that 8,36 Gy was an effective mutation dose for purple carrot and 23,605 Gy for orange carrots due to the regression analyses.