Effect of Gamma irradiation on morphological, biochemical, physiological character and cytological studies, of durum wheat mutants

This investigation was carried to determine the effect of Gamma radiation on germination and physiological characteristic of 6 varieties of durum wheat, 3 of them (Gta/dur (v1), Djenah khotifa(v2), Benimestina(v3)) was irradiated with different doses (10, 25, 50Gy) and three others (Waha(v4), Goumgoumrkham(v5), Mridj(v6)) was mutated with high dose (100, 180, 220Gy), the percentage of germination increased in seedling irradiated with 25Gy and 100Gy as compared to non irradiated one, plants maintained on Knops culture medium, improved with this same dose the root and shoot length, volume and weight as compared to non irradiated one, and others doses. Chlorophyll a was higher than chlorophyll b in both irradiated and non irradiated seeds. The mitotic index was also studied; it has been decreased with increasing doses of gamma radiation. The protein study by SDS PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) generated a proteic polymorphism with different profiles: absence of certain bands as compared to control and presence of new bands, after inducing water stress by PEG(polyéthylène glycol) 6000 at 15% in culture medium. This result showed that the regulation of certain physiological parameters and the growth of plants after their irradiation with gamma can be used for the abiotic control like drought, and the inhibitory effects of gamma rays on the mitotic index indicated that gamma rays have mutagenic effects on embryonic roots of wheat.