Efficiency and effectiveness of chemical mutagens in mungbean

In the present study, sensitivity of three chemical mutagens, namely, ethylmethane sulphonate (EMS), sodium azide (SA) and hydroxylamine (HA) and their combinations were determined on mungbean viz., RMG 62, RMG 268 and RMG 344. The LD₅₀ values of EMS, SA and HA were found to be 0.5%, 2.0 mM and 0.3%, respectively. Subsequently, the three genotypes were treated with three doses of each of the three mutagens (including LD₅₀) and their combination treatments. A steady reduction in germination, plant survival and pollen viability was observed with increasing doses of the mutagens. The efficiency of most of the treatments was decreased with the increase in the dose of mutagen. The highest mutagenic efficiency was observed with 0.1% HA on RMG-268. Magnitude of effectiveness also decreased with higher dose of mutagen. The most effective treatment in all the three genotypes appeared to be 1.0 mM SA.