Abstract
Gamma radiation is an effective tool for inducing genetic variation in plant characters. In the present experiment, M5 mulberry variety juvenile twigs were subjected to source Co60 gamma irradiation (1 kR - 10 kR) and mutants grown in triplicates in randomized block design to raise M1 and M2 generation. In M2 generation plants were subjected to phytochemical and bioassay tests. Silkworm rearing parameters and commercial characters of cocoons were recorded by feeding cross breed silkworms. Results show that M5 mutant leaves revealed significant variations in phytochemical constituents and moisture content. Bioassay tests recorded significant differences compared to control in M2 generation. Commercial characters like cocoon weight (1.41 g), shell weight (0.24 g), shell percentage (16.29 %), filament length (821.00 mts), renditta (8.2), denier (2.24) and effective rate of rearing (92.14 %) were increased. It is concluded that, gamma rays treatment enhances the mulberry plants leaf bioactive components, silkworm rearing and cocoon parameters and shows beneficial variants in M2 generation.
Highlights
Mutation breeding has been widely employed in recent times for improving vegetatively propagated plants and gamma rays have proved to be highly effective in inducing variability in mulberry plant [7] [8]
Juvenile twigs of M5 mulberry genotype were used for cuttings and only middle parts of the twigs were taken in order to maintain the optimum moisture and desired carbon-nitrogen ratio [24]
Phytochemical Studies M5 mutant mulberry leaves were used for the phytochemical tests and their nutritional values were tabulated in Table 1 and the graphical appraisal was defined for easy understanding (Figure 1)
Summary
Mutation breeding has been widely employed in recent times for improving vegetatively propagated crop plants. Mutation breeding has the potency to induce variability and causes vagaries in the genetic constitution of DNA through addition or deletion or frame shift mutation. Mutation breeding has been widely employed in recent times for improving vegetatively propagated plants and gamma rays have proved to be highly effective in inducing variability in mulberry plant [7] [8]
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