Evaluation of Seedling Trait Responses to EMS-Induced Mutagenesis in Greengram (Vignaradiata (L.) Wilczek)

The present study was conducted at the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Lab, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, and at the Centre for Plant Molecular Biology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, during the period from February 2024 to April 2024. The greengram (Vignaradiata (L.) Wilczek) genotype WGG-42 was procured from ICAR–CRIDA, Santosh nagar, Hyderabad. Ethyl Methane sulfonate (EMS), obtained from HiMedia Laboratories Limited, Mumbai, India, was employed as the chemical mutagen for inducing mutations in greengram seeds.The analysis of variance (ANOVA) results revealed highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) among the treatments for all the studied seed germination and seedling traits. This indicates that EMS-induced mutagenesis caused considerable variation in the early growth and seedling performance of greengram.The seedling traits results revealed that the lower EMS concentrations (0.05-0.1%) have not exerted any harmful effects and, in some cases, slightly enhanced seedling growth and vigour. In contrast, moderate to higher EMS doses (≥0.2%) resulted in a gradual decline across all measured traits. An EMS concentration of 0.1% was identified as optimal for inducing genetic variability while minimizing injury. The observed traits showed a clear dose-dependent inhibitory response at higher EMS levels, highlighting the toxic effects of EMS when applied at higher concentrations. The findings indicate that EMS at lower concentrations is effective in generating genetic variability without causing substantial adverse effects on seed germination and seedling growth. In contrast, higher concentrations of EMS exert lethal and sublethal effects, resulting in reduced seedling establishment and diminished vigour.