Induction of Mutations by Hydrazine in Rice

Hydrazine is a base specific chemical which directly acts on thymine base of DNA at pH 8.5 and brings about simultaneous mutations of homologous loci in the first treated generation (M₁). The mutagen has been found in the present study with rice to induce chlorophyll and morphological mutants including dwarfs and grain types in M₁. The frequency of chlorophyll mutations is quite high in M, compared to M₂. The preliminary studies suggest that this mutagen can be successfully used in inducing useful mutants in crop plants due to its unique mode of action.