Determination of lethal dose, effect of EMS and gamma rays on germinationand seedling parameters in Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) var. CO (CR) 4

Mutation breeding is a powerful tool to enrich variation particularly for attributes of economic importance in the crops like coriander where hybridization is difficult due to presence of complex umbels. An experiment was conducted to estimate the lethal dose of the chemical mutagen EMS and physical mutagen gamma rays in Coriander var. CO (CR) 4. Gamma dose ranging from 50 to 300 Gy and EMS treatments from 0.2 to 0.5% were tried to determine LD50 value under both laboratory and field conditions. Fifty per cent lethality had been observed at 200 Gy and 0.3% in gamma ray and EMS treatments, respectively, based on probit analysis. The relationship between mutagenic dose and germination percentage was inversely proportional. In M0 generation, under field condition inverse relationship was observed between dose of mutagen. All the mutagens significantly affected the germination and seedling growth. The study revealed that germination percentage, root length, shoot length and vigour index decreased with increase in dose/concentration of the mutagens. Higher gamma rays and EMS doses had negative effect on the morphological characteristics and growth parameters of the seedlings derived from mutagen treated seeds. Lower treatments of these mutagens have influenced less biological damage and would be suitable for inducing desirable mutations in coriander. Therefore, consistent dose of gamma rays and EMS can be tested in other varieties or lines of coriander to generate variability for novel selection.