Studies on the Induction of Mutations in Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.)

Trigonella foenum-graecum commonly known as fenugreek, an annual dicotyledonous herbaceous plant belongs to the family Leguminosae with branched stems, trifoliate ovate-orbicular leaves, roots bearing nodules, white flowers, paplionaceous corolla, stamens diadelphous [1+(9)], ovary superior, ovules many, pods bearing golden yellow seeds. Seeds vary from rectangular to round in outline with a deep groove between the radical and cotyledons. In general, two types of flowering shoots are observed. The common ones bear axillary flowers showing an indeterminate growth habit, whereas so called “blind shoots” have axillary and terminal flowers, becoming “tip bearers” for seed pods. Both cleistogamous (closed) and aneictogamous (open) flowers have been described (Petropoulos, 1973) but the vast majority of fenugreek flowers are closed or cleistogamous.The purpose of the study was to study the effect of different mutagenic treatments on various biological parameters.To investigate the chromosome behaviour of treated populations with respect to controls.To investigate the chromosome behaviour of treated populations with respect to controls and To isolate promising mutants based on changes in phenotypic traits