EFFECTS OF GAMMA IRRADIATION ON THE AGRO-MORPHOLOGICAL TRAIT OF SELECTED NIGERIAN SPINACH (Amaranthus hybridus L.) ACCESSION

Abstract

The mutagenic effects of gamma irradiation on the agro-morphological traits of spinach accessions were investigated to induce useful genetic variability for further breeding programme. Seeds of two spinach (Amaranthus hybridus L) accessions (GWM-002 and GWM-003) were collected from the Plant Biology Departmental Seed gene bank, Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State. The seeds were exposed to five different gamma irradiation doses (0 Gy, 50 Gy, 100 Gy, 150 Gy, 200 Gy) at Centre for Energy and Research Training (CERT), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. The irradiated and the control seeds were planted at Department of Plant Biology Garden in a randomized complete block design with three replicates each. The results obtained showed significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) on the agro-morphological traits with the highest number of leaves per plant (35.00), plant height (41.48), length of spike (33.16) and leave surface area (48.40) in GWM-002 and highest number of leaves per plant (38.60), plant height (52.50), length of spike (37.50) and surface area (80.40) in GWM-003. Therefore, 150 Gy and 200 Gy doses of gamma irradiation were obtained to be appropriate in creating beneficial traits in Spinach (Amaranthus hybridus L.) accessions.