Effect of Ethyl Methane Sulphonate on Growth and Development of Mulberry (Morus sp.)

Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) is a genotoxic agent, it has been widely used as a model compound in experimental work to establish the receptiveness of the test system under examination. EMS induces damage to DNA by a direct mechanism, acting as a monofunctional ethylating agent. In the present study, mulberry genotypes V1 and MR2 were treated with EMS concentrations of 0.1%, and 0.3% with a duration of 3 hours and 6 hours respectively, and untreated control. Growth parameters observed were longest root length, dry root weight, seedling height, and number of leaves per seedling. The results showed that the treatment of EMS concentration 0.3% for 6 hours can increase the percentage of germination of V1 varieties (89.58%), longest root length (14.17cm), dry root weight (0.78g), height of seedling (15.08cm) and number of leaves per seedling (6.00) compared to other treatments. In general, survival percent and growth parameters were increased with an increase in the EMS dose and duration of treatment in V1 and MR2 varieties. Thus, it infers that the genetic variability of survivability and growth traits among V1 and MR2 varieties show strong positive or negative dose dependent co-relationship with EMS concentrations.