Induced seed coat colour mutations and their inheritance in grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.)

Abstract

Testa colour and mosaic pattern are two important genetic markers in the study of seed coat inheritance. Apart from natural variations, in different leguminous crops stable variations in seed coat colour have been brought about by induction of mutation [1-3]. Induced mutations for different morphological characters have been reported in grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.) [4-7]. The present authors have isolated three distinct seed coat colour mutants showing mosaic vs. non-mosaic distribution in M2 generation of grasspea using gamma-ray irradiation. In this communication the mode of inheritance and distribution pattern of seed coat colour in the mutant have been described.