Morphological variations of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell.) under variable ethyl methanesulphonate mutagenesis

Abstract

Genetic gains in wheat yield have stagnated over the years due to genetic drift. There is a need to create new genetic variation for yield using various methods including ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS). The use of EMS mutagenesis is limited by variations in lethality, efficiency and effectiveness, which confound to selection. The objective of this study was to evaluate morphological variation in wheat after EMS mutagenesis. Wheat genotype LM43 was subjected to EMS mutagenesis under the following conditions: 0.1% v/v for 1 h at 25 °C, 0.1% v/v for 1 h at 30 °C and 0.7% v/v for 1.5 h at 25 °C. Some mutant plants in M1 had significantly (p < 0.05) higher spikelets per spike and kernels per spike. The number of tillers and kernels per spike increased significantly at M2 generation. EMS treatment with 0.1% v/v for 1 h at 30 °C was the most effective and efficient with the lowest biological damage. Macro-mutations were observed in spike, peduncle, awn and flag leaf morphology. The study identified early generation mutants that could be exploited for improving drought tolerance, yield and biomass, or for genetic analysis to identify quantitative trait loci in wheat.