GAMMA IRRADIATION I: EFFECT ON GERMINATION AND GENERAL GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANTS-A REVIEW

Qualitative and quantitative improvement of economically important plant species has remained a prime priority of mankind for decades. These improvements are generally correlated with successes in germination and the growth attributes of plants which are controlled by genes. To attain the desirable growth characters in plants of interest, selective screening is carried out in their predecessors followed by successive evaluation, which imposes the cost of time and labor. In order to manage time and labor and to obtain high-quality progenies, gamma irradiation may prove a suitable alternative method to selective screening for bringing mutational changes in plants in short period of time. Exposure of plants' propagating organs to gamma irradiation can either result in genomic damages corresponding to growth abnormalities or gene reshuffling after DNA repair with consequent healthy results. This paper reviews up to dated literature on the effect of gamma irradiation on germination and growth attributes of economically important plants.