Cytogenetics and Plant Breeding Laboratory, Botany Department, Lucknow University, Lucknow
Presoaked seeds of diploid (2x) and autotetraploid (4x) Trigonella foenum graecum were treated with 0.5% EMS (ethyl methanesulphonate). After thorough washing seeds were sown in field to raise M1 generation alongwith controls. Seeds of M1 generation were successively treated for next two generations to get R1 and R2 recurrent progenies. Comparative study of M1R1 and R2 generations was carried out, using different parameters viz. germination, survival, plant height, branches per plant, pods and seeds per plant etc. Response of 2x and 4x was found different. Diploids exhibited improvement in R2 generation for most of the parameters while tetraploids had decreasing trend for above parameters. There was increase in number of pods per plant in R2 generation in diploids over even controls.
