Screening for high productive salt tolerant mutant M4 lines in chickpea(Cicer arietinum L.)

Genetic improvement through induced mutation has been very effective in improvement of crops. Seeds of three popular chickpea variety namely BGM 408, B115 and JG 315 were treated with 10,20 and 30 kR of gamma rays. Then treated seeds with their respective control(0 kR gamma rays) were sown in the field of Calcutta University experimental farm,Baruipur (with no salinity) in three consecutive years to raise M1, M2 and M3 generations respectively.Some M3 lines having higher yield potential were subjected to grow as M4 lines in salt stressed field (5-7ds m-1) of Hingalganj,South 24 Parganas. Finally, some promising salt tolerant lines with improved seed yield were selected which have a good promise for coastal saline belt after releasing as a variety.

A novel salt-tolerant mutant YWL-01 for the treatment of saline wastewater

The treatment of high-saline wastewater from some salt-end markets including agro-food industry is a serious problem yet to be solved in some coastal cities. The conventional physical–chemical techniques are energy-consuming and their startup and running costs are still high. Biological methods using salt-tolerant bacterial strains for the treatment of hypersaline wastewater provide one possible solution. In this study, one salt-tolerant mutant named YWL-01 was screened out by sewage treatment and proved to be a genetically stable salt-tolerant strain for saline wastewater treatment. First, combined mutagenesis was done on an isolated sewage treatment strain Bacillus Y for the screening of salt tolerance, and 11 mutants were obtained after subculture for many times. Then, a secondary screening test was performed for COD (chemical oxygen demand) and TOC (total organic carbon) removal efficiency analyses. At last, the best mutant YWL-01 with increased capacity to treat saline wastewater was chosen for use. RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) analysis of genetic stability on the mutant YWL-01 showed that it is a hereditary mutant for the treatment of high-saline wastewater.