PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF PIGEON PEA (Cajanus cajan mills sp.) CONTRAST LINES FOR ZINC CONTENT
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Date
40870
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University of Agricultural Sciences GKVK, Bangalore
Abstract
Zinc is one of the important micronutrient for proper growth and development of
plants, animals and humans. Though its requirement is very small, plants do experience
deficiency of this element. Zinc deficiency causes inhibition of growth and reduction in
yield because it is a cofactor of more than 300 enzymes and the concentration in the seed
is also less, which has a direct bearing on human health and more than 49% of human
population globally suffers from Zn deficiency. There are two approaches to improve Zn
acquisition by crops, agricultural strategies like Zn fertilization and another approach is
to exploit genetic variation for Zn acquisition and transport to grains. With this
background an attempt was made to assess the reconfirmation of seed zinc content of
pigeon pea germplasm lines of 25 low and 25 high Zn types in root structure, 15 low and
15 high Zn types in field, 5 low and 5 high Zn types in pot experiment.
Results revealed that in root structure, there is genetic variation exists among
pigeon pea genotypes. Soil application of zinc and foliar spray + soil application of zinc
in field and pot experiment increased all physiological and growth parameters and leaf,
stem and seed zinc content 1.62 to 4.52 mg /100g in root structure, 1.54-4.05 mg /100g in
low types, 3.29-7.75 mg /100g in high types in field and 1.86-3.66 mg /100g in low types,
5.05-6.26 mg /100g in high types in pot compared to control. The high zinc types will
provide high Zn through natural food to humans. They also used to develop mapping
population for Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) breeding.