Mutation techniques in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) for intensive management: confirmed mutants

Seeds of four sesame cultivars, Muganli-57, Oezberk-82, Camdibi and Goelmarmara were irradiated in the range of 150-750 Gy doses of gamma rays in three different experiments. Irradiated seeds with their controls were sown in 1994, 1995 and 1997 to grow M1. Three different harvesting procedures were applied to the M1 populations, i.e., plant harvesting, branch harvesting and bulk harvesting. M2 generations, therefore, were both grown as progeny rows and bulk populations. Potential mutants fitting the breeding objectives were selected after careful screening during the growing period; there were mutations for closed capsule, determinate growth habit, wilting tolerance, chlorophyll deficiency, hairy capsule and multicarpelate, sterility as well as in quantitative traits such as flowering time, capsule size, plant height. In M3, the selected mutants with their normal looking sibs from the same progeny were grown again to confirm mutant traits in progeny rows of 2 meters length and 40 cm apart. After emergence, the plants within a row were thinned to 5 cm apart. Normal agronomic practices were applied to the nurseries. It was finally concluded that recovering unique induced mutants, such as closed capsules, is not a matter of ''luck'' but the result of growing large M2 populations, preferably in plant progeny rows, and careful screening. (author)