Mutation breeding of autotetraploid Achimenes cultivars

Summary Colchicine-induced autotetraploids of three Achimenes cultivars were irradiated with X-rays or fast neutrons. The results were compared, in one cultivar, with those of the irradiated diploid form. The mutation frequency after irradiation of the autotetraploid was 20–40 times higher than for the corresponding diploid. These results may open new possibilities for mutation breeding, though they are hard to explain. Several promising mutants were selected.