Genetic improvement of two cultivars of Vicia faba L. using gamma irradiation and ethyl methanesulphonate mutagenesis

The present experiment was conducted to induce genetic variation using gamma irradiation and ethyl methanesulphonate mutagenesis and isolate and analyze the desirable mutant lines of Vicia faba L. var. Vikrant and PRT-12 in the M-3 generation. The seeds of the mutant lines isolated from 3(rd) generation plants were analyzed for different parameters including total protein content, protein profiles and mineral content using Lowry method, Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and atomic absorption spectrophotometer, respectively. SDS-PAGE profile of mutants from variety Vikrant showed more polymorphism and expression of proteins than mutants isolated from variety PRT-12. Mutant seeds showed significantly higher protein content (0.18 to 1.29%) and mineral content (0.21 to 2.98 mu g.g(-1)) compared to the controls. The mutants selected from variety Vikrant showed more increase in protein and mineral contents than the mutants selected from PRT-12. The selected mutant lines may serve as a valuable genetic material to breed for the improvement of protein and mineral contents in faba bean and other valuable crop plants.