2015 年 80 巻 1 号 p. 59-66
The Egyptian clover or berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) is widely cultivated as a winter season forage crop in about two million hectare of land in India. It is widely accepted because of its multicut nature, high yield and nutritional value. A plausible approach for increasing yield could be through increasing photosynthetically active leaf area and consequently the biomass. The present investigation deals with induction of polyploidy and evaluation of tetraploids vis-à-vis diploids lines of Egyptian clover for multifoliate leaf formation. Immersing of pre-hydrated seeds, from diploid multifoliate plants, in colchicine followed with seedlings immersed in 0.1 and 0.2% colchicine solution for 24 and 48 h, respectively, was effective in inducing tetraploidy. Distinct characteristic features observed among induced pentafoliate tetraploid plants were presence of serrate leaflet margin, prominent rachis and bold seeds. Leaves were thick, succulent, and hairy with apical notch characterized by presence of pigmentation on the outer margin. The autotetraploids had better expression of pentafoliate trait than in diploid plants.
