Effects of gamma irradiation on the agro-morphological traits of selected Nigerian eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) accessions

Segun David Titus,Olamide Falusi,Liman Muhammad Muhammad,Abdulhakeem Abubakar,Oladipupo Abdulazeez Yusuf Daudu

doi:10.30574/gscbps.2018.2.3.0014

Abstract

The mutagenic effects of gamma irradiation on the agro-morphological traits of eggplant accessions were investigated to induce useful genetic variability for further breeding programme. Seeds of two eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) accessions (MN/S/02/2015 and NHGB/09/132) were collected from the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NAGRAB) Ibadan, Nigeria. The seeds were exposed to five different gamma irradiation doses (40 Gy, 60 Gy, 80 Gy, 100 Gy) and un-irradiated (0 Gy) as control at Centre for Energy and Research Training (CERT), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. The irradiated and the control seeds were planted in the Department of Plant Biology Garden in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates each. All the plants were characterized on the basis of agro-morphological traits such as germination percentage, plant height, Number of leaves/plant, leaf length, number of branches, number of days to first flowering number of fruit/plant and fruit weigh. The results obtained showed significant differences (P≤0.05) on the agro-morphological traits with the highest number of leaves per plant (62.25), number of fruits per plant (39.50) and fruit weight (2.08g) in MN/S/02/2015 and highest number of leaves per plant (55.75), number of fruits per plant (28.75) and fruit weight (1.44g) in NHGB/09/132 obtained in 60 Gy. Therefore, 40 Gy and 60 Gy doses of gamma irradiation were obtained to be appropriate in creating beneficial traits in eggplant (S. aethiopicum L.) accessions.

Highlights

Eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop grown in tropical and temperate regions of the world
Seeds of two accessions of Solanum aethiopicum viz; MN/S/02/2015 and NHGB/09/132 were collected from National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NAGRAB) Nigeria
Effects of gamma irradiation on the morphological traits of Solanum aethiopicum (L.) accessions The effects of gamma irradiation on morphological parameters are presented in table 1 below

Summary

Introduction

Eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop grown in tropical and temperate regions of the world. As an alternative to natural mutation which takes several years to occur, creating mutation with different mutagens has contributed a lot to breeding programme in different aspects It has been reported in many studies that genetic variability for several desired characters can be induced successfully through mutations and its realization for plant improvement programmes has been well established [5]. Mutation breeding by gamma irradiation is one of the most effective ways of inducing genetic variability in plants compared to other ionizing radiations because of their penetration ability [6] and in the development of new varieties [7,8]. Large number of plant mutant varieties with desirable agromorphological traits has been developed in closely related species by various authors using irradiation This can be of great value and benefit for the improvement of eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) which is an important food crop in Nigeria. This study was carried out to determine the effects of the gamma irradiation doses on the agro-morphological parameters of selected Nigerian eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) accessions

Seed Collection and irradiation

Experimental Design

Data Analysis

Results and discussion

Conclusion