Irradiation produces new maize varieties
Breeding new maize cultivars using ion beam irradiation, a project jointly undertaken by the CAS Institute of Modern Physics and Gansu Jinxiang Seed Corporation, has recently achieved a major progress, thanks to more than two-year efforts. Researchers treated a wide range of maize seeds, including Jinxiang-4C, Zheng-58, Lu-9801, and CSR-24001, using 12C6 and 36Ar18, plus the ion beams in different dosages provided by the heavy ion accelerator at the Institute. They induced expected mutations in inbred corn lines through field growing, and created an advanced technical means for producing novel strains.
