Author(s): Santosh Sawardekar, Sandip Sherkar, Ravindra Deshpande, Makarand Joshi, Yogesh Parulekar and Bapusaheb Shinde

Abstract: Red banana is one of the favorite banana cultivar known for its taste and nutrition. Induced mutation technique is particularly important for bananas as there is limited sexual reproduction and parthenocarpic fruits. In this study, in vitro shoots of red banana were treated with gamma radiation (⁶⁰Cobalt). The objective was to determine the gamma ray dosage sensitivity (lethal dose-LD₅₀) and identification of dwarf plants through molecular marker in red banana variety. The axenic cultures of passage 3-4 were irradiated with doses of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 Gray (Gy). In vitro cultures were evaluated for percent survival, multiplication rate, length of shoots, number of leaves and length of leaves. Based on the values, the lethal-dose 50% (LD₅₀) was determined as 20 Gy. Increasing levels of gamma irradiation doses more than 30 Gy, causes shoots turned to brown and simultaneously dead. Medium supplemented with 6 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) + 20 mg Casein hydrolysate + 30 mg/l Adenine sulphate showed maximum rate of in vitro multiplication rate (1:1.8) in irradiated cultures. Total 3,200 irradiated plants grown through micropropagation and their molecular analysis carried out through Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCAR) markers. Molecular analysis revealed the presence of dwarf gene in 14, 18 and 52 sample plants as well as morphological study shows plant height 287cm , 296cm and 282cm, respectively.

DOI: 10.33545/26174693.2024.v8.i2h.820