Dose optimization, frequency and spectrum of Gamma-ray induced chlorophyll mutations in acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia) cv. Agamalai

Citrus, one of the most popular fruit crops grown worldwide, has high nutritional, medicinal and commercial value. This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of gamma radiation with various doses, including 0 Gy, 5Gy, 10 Gy, 15 Gy, 20 Gy, 25Gy, 30 Gy, 35 Gy, 40 Gy and 45 Gy of cobalt 60 sources on acid lime variety Agamalai citrus, (Citrus aurantifolia). The study was carried out at the Horticulture College and Research Institute in Periyakulam.The mutagenic efficiency and effectiveness were evaluated using the frequency of chlorophyll mutations and the biological damage in M1 plants. The stomatal index reduces (19.62 %– 13.99%) with increasing treatment dose, compared to control (20.39%), although guard cell dimensions, such as length (6.09 µm) in 15 Gy and breadth (4.56 µm) in 5 Gy increase with higher dose treatment than untreated (3.71 µm,3.54 µm). Identifying the mutagenic efficiency and effectiveness of the mutagen and maximising the lethal dosage is the first stage in any mutagenesis research. This work will serve as a foundation for subsequent gamma-irradiation studies in acidlime to generate desirable mutants.