Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263 145, India.
* Agril. Botany (Genetics and Plant Breeding), Palli Siksha Bhavana (Institute of Agriculture), Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan. Birbhum, West Bengal - 731 236, India.
The mutagenic effects of gamma rays (5, 10, 15 and 20 kR) on frequency and spectrum of chlorophyll and macromutations in two pea cultivars, namely HFP 4 and DDR 13 have been observed. The spectrum of chlorophyll mutations observed in M2 generation was found to be quite narrow as only three kinds namely albina, xantha and chlorina occurred in the different treatments. On the other hand, three types of morphological mutations viz., tall, dwarf and large podded types were recorded in different treatments in the M2 generation. Most of the mutations showed independent response of the doses of the gamma rays as they occur at random, and the cultivar HFP 4 appeared to be more sensitive towards the mutagenic treatments as compared to DDR 13. The segregation of chlorophyll and morphological mutations has also been discussed.
