Induction and harnessing of polygenic variability in lentil (<italic>Lens culinaris</italic> Medik.)

Abstract

Three mutagenised populations each of gamma rays, sodium azide (SA) and ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) showed increased amount of variability over control for different polygenictraits in both <italic>macrosperma</italic> (LH90-54) and <italic>microsperma</italic> (LH89-48) lentil cultivars in M<sub>2</sub> generation. Among the mutagens tested, EMS induced maximum variability for all the traits, followed by gamma rays and SA in both the cultivars. The highest frequencies of mutated [M<sub>2</sub> progenies with higher coefficient of variation (CV) than the corresponding highest CV in control for any of the traits] and promising progenies [M<sub>2</sub> mutated progenies where mean shifted in the desired direction] were induced by different mutagens in the order:EMS > gamma rays > SA in both the cultivars (LH90-54 > LH89-48). In LH 90-54, promising progenies with multiple traits were induced with the highest frequency by SA, followed by EMS and gamma rays, whereas in LH89-48, they were induced with the highest frequency by SA, followed by gamma rays and EMS. Invariably, the medium dose of mutagens (0.08%SA, 0.40% EMSand 10 kRgamma rays) induced maximum variability(CV, %), resulting in thehighest number of promising progenies for all the polygenic traits.