105. Effect of chemical mutagens on growth of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench)

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of mutagens i.e. Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) and Sodium azide (SA) on the morphological growth of Okra. Seeds of two Okra varieties Subzpari and Pahuja were first pre-soaked in distilled water and then treated with 0.0 (Control), 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% Sodium azide (SA) and Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) separately. The results showed that the germination rate was significantly decreased with increased lethality (%) and mutation frequency (%) in M₁ of both varieties with increasing concentrations of EMS and SA against control. The results showed that different concentrations of EMS and SA affected morphological attributes of both okra varieties as the increase of mutagen concentration showed variable results in M₁ generation compared with control, but M₂ generation showed useful improvement in various traits. Such as the M₂ generation of Subs pari from 0.1% SA treatment showed a decrease in flowering time while an increase in the number of fruits per plant, fruit size, seeds yield (g) per plant and 100 seeds weight.

Keywords: Ethyl methane sulfonate; Growth; Induced mutagenesis; Okra; Sodium azide

http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2020.90116