Study of mutation breeding with heavy ion irradiations on potatoes

The effect of 55 MeV/u 40Ar17+ irradiation with different doses on hybrid seeds and micro-tubers of potatoes were studied from year 2000 to 2005. The results showed that the yields of potatoes irradiated by heavy ions grew significantly. This new mutation method combining cross breeding technique with heavy ion irradiation is more effective, which could not only increase the yield of potatoes, but also improve their quality. The optimal mutagenic dose was 60 Gy to micro-tubers of potatoes, 60-120 Gy to hybrid seeds, respectively. Finally, several new lines which have higher yield and better qualities were obtained through multi-generation screening from the offspring of irradiated potatoes. (authors)