Cytogenetics Laboratory, Post-Graduate Department of Botany, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar-751 004, India
Modification of floral and non-floral parts of a plant through mutagenesis has been considered important for studying adaptive mechanism and phylogenetic relationship in plants. In Amaranthus hypochondriocus L., a good number of fasciated and curled leaf mutants have been obtained through chemical and physical mutagenesis. Histological analysis suggests that fasciation is due to flattening and enlargement of the growing points rather than fusion of a number of growing points. Curling of leaf and its associated abnormalities were found to be due to irregular development of lamellar vascular bundles and enlargement of adjacent tissues.
