Study on space mutation breeding of rice

Air-dried seeds of rice variety ZR9 were carried by high altitude balloon (HAB) and recoverable satellite (RS) for space mutation. Mutagentic effects of high altitude environment (HAE) of 30∼38 km and outer space environment (OSE) of 218∼326 km above sea level on rice plant were studied. The results indicated that the germination percentage (GP) of seeds was obviously lower than that of the controls. the mutation in plant height (PH) and growth period duration (GPD) of SP1 carried by HAB were induced. However, the GP of seeds and characters of SP1 carried by RS had no evident change. More stronger segregation of major characters such as PH, GPD and length of panicle, appeared in the two SP2 generations resulting from HAB and RS. And their mutation frequency were 4.31% and 4.10% respectively. Mutation lines selected from the two mutation progenies improved significantly in PH, GPD, disease resistance and yield. Therefore, space mutation could be considered as a new breeding method