| Popis: |
The sensitivity arising from separate and combined action of water and ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) with gamma irradiation was tested on castorbean seeds, variety “Hale”, in three different experiments. Plant emergence was recorded ten days, plant survival and plant height four weeks, after planting. Results show that castorbean seeds follow the same trend in response to gamma irradiation for emergence, plant survival, and plant height with changes in seed moisture content as reported for the cereals, barley and oats. Soaking the seeds in water or solutions of EMS also increased their sensitivity to irradiation. Concentrations of 1 and 2 per cent EMS had little effect on the expression of these characteristics except when the seeds were soaked as long as 16 hr. The interaction of gamma irradiation and EMS for these characteristics was relatively insignificant. Low doses of irradiation also stimulated the expression of the characteristics measured as has been reported for other crops. |
