Determination of Radio Sensitivity (LD50) of Embryo Cultured of Banana (Musa balbisiana) cv. Bhimkol

Banana is parthenocarpic and vegetatively propagated crop due to which in vitro mutagenesis approaches have substantial scope to create variations for crop improvement. Bhimkol cultivar is a wild seeded type and it set seeds naturally. The immature seeds can be used for the in vitro mutation to create variability. Prerequisite in an in vitro mutation study, is to determine the appropriate dosages to produce larger recovery of mutants with diminutive population loss. It is necessary to fix the lethal dose (LD50) for optimizing the radiation doses for immature seeds of banana. In the present investigation, in order to fix the LD50 value immature seeds of banana were subjected to five different doses of gamma irradiation ranged from 5-25 Gy with control (untreated). The present finding was observed that as gamma radiation dose increased, delayed germination and reduction in the germination percentage of immature embryos. And also, seedling height and root length reduced significantly. Based on the probit analysis curve, the germination percentage showed that, LD50 dose of gamma radiation was 15 - 20 Gy for higher germination percentage of immature embryos in banana cv. Bhimkol.