Abstract
The objective of this study was to induce mutation in Gypsophila paniculata through in vitro mutagenesis by treating the shoot tips and lateral buds with four doses of gamma irradiation (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 Gy) and to apply RAPD analysis for the detection of genetic polymorphism among Gypsophila mutants and their parent. The results of analysis of variance revealed that callus induction (%), number of shoots per explant and shoot length (cm) were affected by gamma ray doses and gave highly significant differences influenced by radiation level, whereas shoot formation (%) were statistically insignificant. Radiation level x explant interaction significantly affected all studied characters except shoot formation (%) and shoot length (cm). The lateral bud explants gave significantly higher number of shoots (19.28) compared to shoot tip explants (14.68). Analysis of RAPD recognized 105 different amplification products. The genetic similarity among the ten genotypes ranged from 0.59 to 0.97. In conclusion, gamma rays irradiation can induct mutations which can be carefully acclimatized and commercially propagated under suitable condition. RAPD technique could be successfully applied to the newly Gypsophila variants and can differentiate mutants from their parents.