Induction of phenotypic diversity in mutagenized population of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik) by using heavy metal

Pulse breeding has been performed in the past by utilizing the genetic variability using conventional method. At the present time, these techniques are insufficient for producing new cultivars to fulfill globally increased food demand. In this situation, induced mutagenesis have been appeared as a new technique which are largely utilized for evolving improved mutants with good quality of agronomic traits and for determining desired genes that control agronomical traits. In the present investigation lentil seeds were mutagenized with different doses (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 ppm) of lead and cadmium nitrate. M(2) generation was raise from collected seeds of M(1) generation. Distinct morphological mutants were selected with different traits such plant height, growth habit, leaf morphology, flower character, pigmentation and pod size. Different meiotic aberration such as stickiness, precocious separation of chromosome, unequal division, disturbed polarity with laggards, cytomixis, disorientation, unpolarized chromosome, sticky metaphase, multinucleate condition with micronuclei were also observed in this experiment. Some mutants may be utililised directly in selection or some of these are beneficial in breeding programme. Beneficial mutants were determined at lower concentrations both heavy metals with highest mutation frequency in cadmium than lead nitrate.