Generating new ornamental plant varieties using ion beams

Affrida, A. H.*; Shakinah, S.*; Zaiton, A.*; Yoshihara, Ryohei; Narumi, Issei; Hase, Yoshihiro; Ono, Yutaka

Chrysanthemum is one of the leading temperate flowers in Malaysia, and contributes 22.62% of the total value of cut flower production. The objectives of this study are to develop an effective method for mutation induction of local chrysanthemum varieties using ion beams and to determine the optimum dose for callus formation using petals. Irradiated petals that were able to produce callus and green in color were considered to have survived the irradiation, whilst those that turned brown were not. The percentage of survived petals of cv. Reagan Red and cv. Lameet decreased drastically at doses above 20 Gy. The results reported here were from the first irradiation experiments for both varieties. The experiments will be repeated to obtain more accurate dose response curve.