Biostimulating effect of laser beam on the cytomorphological aspects of Lathyrus sativus L.

Abstract

The pure inbred seeds of grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L. var Pusa 24) were irradiated with three different doses of laser beams. For the experiment, a helium-neon laser (He-Ne) with the wavelength of 632.8 nm and power density - 1 mWcm-2 was chosen. In theM1 generation, stimulation as well as reduction in morphological and yield-contributing traits was estimated.  The results showed that in the M1 generation, lower doses of laser beams (0.5 and 1.0 min) induced biostimulation effect of the analyzed traits. Highest dose (1.5 min) induced reduction of the traits value in comparison to the control. The progeny obtained in M2 generation was comparatively better than M1 progeny for the same traits. Apart from morphological traits, cytological analysis exhibited a number of chromosomal aberrations in both the generations. Stickiness of chromosomes was recorded as one of the prevalent abnormality. The results obtained show that the helium-neon laser with the wavelength of 632.8 nm can be an effective tool for increasing variability of agronomic traits in grass pea.