Ion beam biotechnology and its application to maize breeding

Since the mutagenic effects of ion beam had been discovered at the mid of 1980’s, ion beam had been widely used in mutagenic breeding of various crops. Ion beam biotechnology had provided a new way for improving corn variety and creating new germplasm resources, and had promoted the development of maize breeding. In this article, we described the ion beam characteristics, the mutagenic mechanism and its application in maize breeding.