Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding
Four lentil varieties of small seeded group (PL-639 and
PL-406) and bold seeded group (K-75 and L-4076)
mutagenised through gamma rays (10, 20 and 30 kR),
EMS (0.04 M), sodium azide (0.05 M) and their combinations
were evaluated for induced genetic variability and to
identify the drought tolerant mutant lines and the trait(s)
responsible for enhancing grain yield under rainfed
condition. The findings suggest that materials ought to
be tested in both moisture stress and moisture non-stress
conditions so that the favourable alleles under drought
can be maintained as well as the selection response
under favorable condition can be maximized. Yield under
drought (Yd)' yield potential (Yp)' drought susceptibility
index (S) and geometric mean (GM) were considered as
the potential indicators for assessing drought resistance
of a mutant line. Correlation coefficients between these
parameters revealed that GM was positively and
significantly correlated with both Yd and Yp' There was
significant but negative correlation between Sand Yd'
while no significant correlation between Sand Yp was
observed. It was very clear from the correlation studies
that for the enhancement of yield potential under both
the conditions selection should be based on GM rather
than on S, because S is a better measure of drought
tolerance than a measure of performance under stress.
Further, selected mutant lines were evaluated for different
physiological parameters (nitrate reductase activity, wax
content and protein content) in M4 generation and most
of them showed higher values for NR activity and wax
content. NR activity and wax content may be used as
the more reliable parameters to form the basis of selection
under rainfed conditions
Keywords: Induced mutations, drought tolerance, drought susceptibility index, NR activity and lentil
Year: 2007
Volume: 67
Issue: 2
Article DOI: NA
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906
Ajay Kumar Tomer, Kuldeep Tyagi and Jai Prakash Lal info_circle
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