DIGITONIN AS AN ENHANCER OF MUTAGENICITY OF ETHYL METHANE SULPHONATE IN BLACKGRAM (VIGNA MUNGO L.)

Abstract

In an Induc;ed mutation study In blackgnm digitonin wu applied u a pretreatment chemical just before the treatment with the mutagen. ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) to enhance the mutagenic effect of EMS through greater uptake of the mutagen Into the cells. The M2 populations were screened for macro- and micro- mutations. The frequency and spectrum of total macro-mutations were substantially Increased by digitonin-EMS treatment compared to EMS treatment alone. There was also Increue in micro- mutations by digitonin pretreatment for almost all the quantitative characters except seeds per pod and single-plant yield.