Low-Cost Methods for Molecular Characterization of Mutant Plants: Tissue Desiccation, DNA Extraction and Mutation Discovery: Protocols

Abstract

The Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture has, for over 50 years, supported Member States in the use of nuclear techniques for crop improvement. This includes the use of induced mutations to generate novel diversity for breeding crops with higher yield, better nutritive value, and stronger resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. This approach, first applied in the late 1920s, has been very successful across the world. More than 3,200 officially registered mutant crop varieties can be found in the IAEA’s Mutant Variety Database. Covering over 150 species, examples include salt-tolerant rice, barley that can be grown at over 3,000 m, and wheat that is resistant to the emerging global disease known as Ug99. While successful, there are factors that threaten global food production and security. These include increasing world population and climate change and variation. Thus, continued and increasing efforts are required of plant

breeding and genetics to meet the demand. Established and emerging biotechnol- ogies that leverage available genome sequences can be used to facilitate and speed- up the plant breeding process. While successfully applied in developed countries,

technology transfer to developing countries can be challenging. Issues include equipment and material costs and ease of experimental execution. The methods described in this book address this by providing low-cost and simple to execute

molecular assays for germplasm characterization that can be applied in any labo- ratory equipped for basic molecular biology.

The views expressed in this text do not necessarily reflect those of the IAEA or FAO, or governments of their Member States. The mention of names of specific companies or products does not imply an intention to infringe on proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of IAEA or FAO.