Indicator Parameters of Mutation Frequency and Mutation Spectrum

Correlation coefficients between and within the parameters of M₁ and M₂ generations were studied to relate the frequency and spectrum of factor mutations with physiological and cytological damage. Results revealed that parameters based on physiological and chromosomal damage in M₁ generation may not be reliable to predict either frequency or spectrum of viable mutations in M₂ generation. Chlorophyll lethal mutations in M₂ could, however, be used to minimize the M₂ population size for effectively screening for viable morphological mutations. Spectrum of mutations appeared to be a random event entirely independent of both the M₁ and M₂ parameters.