Gamma Ray- and EMS-Induced Bold-Seeded High-Yielding Mutants in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

摘要

Three bold-seeded high-yielding mutants were isolated from the M2 progeny of chickpea var. Pusa-212, viz. Pusa-212 A (200 Gy), Pusa-212 C (400 Gy), and Pusa-212 F (300 Gy + 0.2% EMS). Data on various quantitative traits, such as plant height, number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100-seed weight (g), seed yield (g) per plant, and protein content (%), were recorded for all 3 mutants in the M3 generation. The mutants were morphologically quite distinct, as compared to the control and to each other. The most notable change was in seed size and shape of these mutants, giving them bold characteristics as compared to small seeds in the control. Mean performance of different quantitative traits was significantly better among the mutants as compared to the control, with a few exceptions. Seed protein content did not show any significant positive correlation with seed size and test weight. Heritability estimates were quite high for almost all polygenic traits among the mutants, in comparison to the control. Cytological analysis of the mutants was almost normal, except for a few chromosomal aberrations.