Sodium Azide as a Chemical Mutagen in Wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.): Patterns of the Genetic and Epigenetic Effects with iPBS and CRED-iPBS Techniques

Wheat, which is scientifically known as <i>Triticum aestivum</i> L., is a very nutritious grain that serves as a key component of the human diet. The use of mutation breeding as a tool for crop improvement is a reasonably rapid procedure, and it generates a variety that may be used in selective breeding programs as well as functional gene investigations. The present experiment was used to evaluate the potential application of a conventional chemical mutagenesis technique via sodium azide (NaN₃) for the germination and seedling growth stage in wheat. Experiments with NaN₃ mutagenesis were conducted using four different treatment periods (0, 1, 2, and 3 h) and five different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mM). The genomic instability and cytosine methylation of wheat using its seeds were investigated after they were treated. In order to evaluate the genomic instability and cytosine methylation in wheat that had been treated, interprimer binding site (iPBS) markers were used. The mutagenic effects of NaN₃ treatments had considerable polymorphism on a variety of impacts on the cytosine methylation and genomic instability of wheat plants. The results of the experiment showed considerable changes in the iPBS profiles produced by the administration of the same treatments at different dosages and at different times. Coupled restriction enzyme digestion interprimer binding site (CRED-iPBS) assays identified changes in gDNA cytosine methylation. The highest polymorphism value was obtained during 1 h + 2 mM NaN₃, while the lowest (20.7%) was obtained during 1 h + 1.5 mM NaN₃. Results showed that treatments with NaN₃ had an effect on the level of cytosine methylation and the stability of the genomic template in wheat plants in the germination stage. Additionally, an integrated method can be used to for mutation-assisted breeding using a molecular marker system in wheat followed by the selection of desired mutants.