Abstract: In order to test the feasibility of electron beam induced mutation on Gladiolus and the effects of various doses of electron beam on leaf traits. Electron beam was radiated on the corm of gladiolus “chaoji” with 3MeV energy and the effects of the treatment on M1 generation leaf traits were studied. The effect of electron beam on photosynthetic characteristics were investigated in experiments, and the results obtained from this experiment were as follows: low dose of electron beam had no obvious effects on the photosynthetic rate，transpiration rate，Sub-stomatal cavity CO₂ concentration and stomatal conductivity of CO₂ of M1 generation. With the increase of radiation dose, the transpiration rate and stomatal conductivity of CO₂ was obviously catalyzed and the difference had statistical significance (p<0.05). The effect of electron beam Irradiation on the Chlorophyll content in gladiolus was studied and the result showed chlorophyll content and the ratio of the Chlorophyll a/b of the gladiolus treated were changed. The chlorophyll a content was the highest at 240Gy than others and the difference had statistical significance (p<0.05). Comparing scanning electron microscope (SEM) photograph of the leaf shapes of M1 generation with control and it showed that the structure both trichome and stomata was changed and the surface organize characteristic of leaf is obviously disorderly arranged. These results show that electron beam induction had influence on morphology and physiology of gladiolus leaf.

Key words: electron beam, gladiolus, leaf, photosynthetic characteristics, SEM