An experiment on induction of mutation in lathyrus by gamma rays was conducted by using treated seeds of lathyrus cv. NLK-73 with 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 Gy doses of gamma rays in non-replicated trial along with control. The treated material along with untreated control were sown in M1 generation and the seeds collected from individual plant of M1 generation were used to raise M2 generation during Rabi 2017 and 2018 respectively. Fifteen different types of morphological and biochemical mutants viz., chlorophyll, early flowering, tall, broad leaves, profuse branches, more pods, flower colour, purple colour leaf, narrow leaves, more pods and tall, broad leaves and tall, broad leaves and profuse branches, profuse branches and tall, profuse branches and more pods, high yield and more pods were identified and isolated. Mutation frequency and mutagenic efficiency increased with the increase in dose upto 250 Gy and 200 Gy respectively, later on both decreased with increase in the dose of gamma rays. Mutagenic effectiveness decreased with the increase in doses of gamma rays. Significant variations among the treatments for all the mutants were recorded in M2 generation of Lathyrus and hence, offer scope for identifying mutants.
Gamma rays, Lathyrus, M2 generation, Mutation efficiency, Mutation frequency