60Co Irradiation Influences Germination and Phenotype of Three Pavonia Species

Abstract

The genus Pavonia is one of the largest genera in the Malvaceae species; it is mainly distributed in South America. Three species of Pavonia were identified based on different flower colors and potential for landscape use in the southeastern United States. These species produce a large amount of seed at the end of the blooming season, which is not ideal for ornamental use. To reduce the seed set, gamma irradiation was used for mutation induction and propensity to induce compactness and sterility. A preliminary study indicated that the seed of Pavonia hastata would germinate at irradiation rates up to 2000 Gy. Seeds of three species were treated with six different dose rates ranging from 0 Gy to 1000 Gy to determine the ideal rate for Pavonia breeding and how gamma irradiation affected seed germination. M1 (the first mutant generation) P. lasiopetala and P. missionum were sown in 2018 and planted in the field at the University of Georgia Durham Horticulture Farm on 1 May 2019, as were M2 (the second mutant generation) seeds of P. hastata. Seed germination in 2019 showed no significance due to treatment but significance due to species and species by treatment interaction. Field evaluation performed in 2019 indicated that height was not influenced by irradiation for any of the three species but that the width index was. Flower diameter and leaf area of P. missionum became smaller as the irradiation rate increased, but the other two species showed no trends. Chlorophyll mutations were observed on P. hastata at the 1500 Gy level, which has attractive traits for ornamental use.