Mohammad Yunus Khalil Ansari

Chemical Mutagenesis in Chicory: a Tool for Crop Improvement: Dynamics of Some Chemical Mutagens in Induction of Mutations in Cichorium Intybus L. (Asteraceae) Mohammad Yunus Khalil Ansari

Chemical Mutagenesis in Chicory: A Tool For Crop Improvement Chicory is a well known medicinal herb used for treatment of liver ailments. The herb grows wild and it still has low genetic variability being self pollinated. This opens an ample room for mutation breeders to improve the crop. Mutation in plants for improvement of potential agronomic traits is a buzz word of today and had become one of the most important tools in generating new varieties. Mutation breeding employing varieties of physical and chemical agents is in use to explore the possibilities of developing new varieties, especially in crops having narrow genetic base. The present study describes the effect of chemical mutagens in induction of mutations in Cichorium intybus (L.) since genotype of the plant is homozygous with limited genetic variability, hence induced mutagenesis proved to be an effective tool in induction of mutations and further improvement in the crop via selection.