Abstract
Mutation breeding in crop plants is an effective approach in improvement of crop having narrow genetic base such as soybean. The main objective of the present study is to determine the effect of different doses of gamma irradiation on different morpho-agronomic characteristics. Agronomic traits that were analyzed included; grain yield, number of pods/plant, number of seeds/plant and weight of 100 seeds and numbers of days to 50% flowering. Morphometric characterization of the descriptive data included plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves/plant, leaflet length, leaflet width, number of ramifications/plant, and pod length and width at 3 lodge stage. The results of the present study revealed that the two gamma irradiation doses used (0.2 kGy and 0.4 kGy) decreased significantly most of agronomic and morphological traits evaluated in M1 populations. Different effects of 0.2 kGy and 0.4 kGy irradiation were observed in M2 populations with significant increase of grain yields and yield components in all the three soybean varieties. In general, a significant decrease or no changes of morphological traits were observed for the two irradiation doses in M2 populations. The levels of changes varied among varieties. Potential high yielding mutants were identified in progenies of irradiated seeds.
Highlights
The soybean (Glycine max L.) is native to East Asia and it is currently widely grown in many countries worldwide
The results of the present study revealed that the two gamma irradiation doses used (0.2 kGy and 0.4 kGy) decreased significantly most of agronomic and morphological traits evaluated in M1 populations
The results of the present study revealed that the two irradiation doses used decreased significantly most of agronomic and morphological traits evaluated in the M1 populations
Summary
The soybean (Glycine max L.) is native to East Asia and it is currently widely grown in many countries worldwide. Despite the richness of the soybean germplasm collections, the genetic base of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivars developed in many breeding programs is very narrow. Several studies have shown that only a few accessions have contributed to the majority of the genes in current cultivars [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. This may threaten the ability of breeders to sustain improvement for high yield, resistance to pests and abiotic stresses. Mutation breeding in crop plants is an effective approach in improvement of crops having narrow genetic base as such soybean. Many mutant lines have been identified in soybean mutation breeding programs based on morphological characteristics [11,12,13,14]
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