Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2018) 7(10): 1832-1838 1832 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.710.210 Evaluation of vM 2 Generation in Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.) for Identification and Isolation of Promising Mutants Manisha Kashyap 1* , Gaurav Sharma 1 , T. Tirkey 1 and Deepak Sharma 2 1 Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur-492012, Chhattisgarh, India 2 Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur-492012, Chhattisgarh, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.), a member of the family Iridaceae, is one of the most popular ornamental bulbous plants grown commercially for its fascinating spikes as well as longer vase-life in many parts of the world including India. It is commercially cultivated in Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (Anon. 2018). Mutation is recognized as one of the most important breeding tool for the development of new varieties through genetic manipulation (Kumari and Kumar 2015). Gladiolus is highly heterozygous in its genetics constitution which makes it promising test material for inducing mutagenesis. Particularly where only one or a few characters are to be improved upon without changing the entire genotype, mutation breeding offers promising possibilities. As gladiolus are heterozygous and often propagated vegetatively thus allowing the detection, selection and International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 10 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The present investigation was carried out at Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur during 2017-18. The experiment was designed in Randomized Block Design with Factorial Concept using vM 2 generation of three gladiolus cultivars viz. Candyman, American Beauty, Her Majesty irradiated previous year with four doses of gamma radiations 15 Gy, 30 Gy, 45 Gy, 60 Gy along with 0 Gy (control) to investigate the effect of gamma radiations. The results revealed early spike initiation (77.80 days) in variety Her Majesty. Minimum days for opening of first floret (100.86 days) were observed in var. American Beauty whereas maximum leaf abnormality percentage was observed in var. Her Majesty. Leaf abnormality percentage and morphological abnormalities percentage were found maximum at higher dose 60 Gy. Two variants from var. Candyman irradiated at 45 Gy and 60Gy and one variant from var. Her Majesty irradiated at 30 Gy were identified and isolated for changes in floret color whereas one variant was identified and isolated from var. American Beauty having variation in floret arrangement. Keywords Floral characters, Mutants, Gamma radiation, Gladiolus Accepted: 15 September 2018 Available Online: 10 October 2018 Article Info