Assessment of phenotypic variants and identification of non-pungent mutants among EMS-treated M2 population

Abstract

Plant breeding needs genetic variation of economical traits to develop new, high-yielding and improved cultivars. EMS-induces mutation has been practiced to cause mutations at loci regulating economically important traits and/or to knock out the genes to elucidate their functions. The present study was under taken to induce mutations in a Capsicum annuum Micro-Pep. Micro-Pep is a small, pungent pepper generally used as ornamental purpose. The accession is convenient to use in mutation study and molecular research due to its compact growth habit, and small size. The seeds were treated with 1.3% of mutagen to induce mutation and 30% less germination percentage was observed in EMS treated seeds in comparison to control seeds. A total of 6,620 M1 plants were grown under greenhouse condition and 3996 M2 mutant lines were harvested. Among these mutants 350 lines were evaluated for novel traits. The mutants were observed with various phenotypic variants such as plant growth, habit, leaves color and shapes, flower and fruits morphology. In parallel to this, these mutants were screened for non-pungent mutants using Gibbs reagent method. In a result, 3 non-pungent mutants were identified. These mutant phenotypes and non-pungent mutants will be valuable genetic resources for identification of functional genes and molecular breeding of pepper.