In vitro action of ethylmethanesulphonate on banana shoot tips

Shoot tips excised from two banana (Musa acuminata) clones (SH-3362, a diploid AA, and cultivar ‘Grand Nain’ mutant (GN-60Gy/A), a triploid AAA) were treated with various concentrations of the mutagen ethylmethanesulphonate (EMS). The number of newly initiated adventitious buds decreased with increased concentrations of EMS. Presence of dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) in combination with EMS affected the growth and development of the shoot tips. Uptake of the labelled mutagen (¹⁴C EMS) was greatly influenced by time of incubation and presence of DMSO as a carrier agent. Microautoradiography of histological sections of shoot tips confirmed the accumulation of the labelled mutagen in the shoot apical meristem, leaf primordia and more extensively in the corm, from which new adventitious buds are initiated.