Field evaluation of M4 plants obtained from induced mutation of tomato ‘Cobra’ variety with ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS)

Abstract

Crop improvement through induced mutation has resulted in the development of new mutant varieties worldwide. Alkylating agents such as ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) are widely used to induce mutations in plants due to their ability to cause changes in the nucleotide sequence. In this study, a field experiment was conducted at the University of Nigeria Nsukka in southeastern Nigeria to evaluate M4 plants of tomato variety ‘Cobra’ obtained from selections in the third generation (M3) plants in the field. Seeds of the cobra tomatoes were subjected to induced mutation using different concentrations of ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS). Before this study, selections based on desired horticultural traits were carried out in the first-generation mutant (M1), second generation mutant (M2), and third generation (M3). Eight different mutants were selected and evaluated in the field as M4 plants. Variations were bserved in both the qualitative and quantitative traits studied. Average fruit weight of 1.118 kg per plant and 23.60 fruits per plant were recorded for variant 3 as against the parent plant that had 479 g per plant and produced 14 fruits per plant. Other promising mutants in terms of fruit yield per plant were variant 5 (1.079 kg) a variant 2 (1.069 kg). Remarkably, there was no incidence of blossom end rot in all the M4 variants evaluated.