Micropropagation and Determining Gamma Ray Do...

Micropropagation and Determining Gamma Ray Dosage Sensitivity in Red Banana Variety (Musa Acuminata)

Author Name : Santosh Sawardekar, Sandip Sherkar , Ravindra Deshpande

ABSTRACT Red banana, also known as lal-velchi, is one of the favorite banana cultivar of konkan region in Maharashtra. Induced mutation technique is particularly important for bananas as there is limited sexual reproduction and parthenocarpic fruits. First and most important step in mutagenic treatment is to estimation of the most appropriate mutagenic treatment. In this study, in vitro shoots of red banana were treated with gamma radiation ( 60Cobalt), utilized as a mutagenic agent. The objective was to determine the gamma ray lethal dose (LD50) in red banana variety. The axenic cultures of passage 3-4 were irradiated with doses of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 Gray (Gy). In vitro cultures were evaluated for per cent survival, multiplication rate, length of shoots, number of leaves and length of leaves. Based on the values, the lethal dose 50% (LD50) was determined as 20 Gy. Lower doses (10Gy and 20Gy) enhanced shoot multiplication ratio and no multiplication was seen in shoots irradiated with 30 Gy and above.