The role of mutations in intraspecific differentiation of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Summary Based on morphological diversity, cultivated groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is classified into two subspecies (fastigiata and hypogaea) and further into four botanical types (Spanish bunch, Valencia, Virginia bunch and Virginia runner). In a cross between two Spanish cultivars belonging to ssp. fastigiata, a true breeding variant (Dharwad early runner) sharing some characters of both the subspecies was isolated. The variant, on mutagenesis with ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) yielded a very high frequency of mutants resembling all four botanical types. Some of the mutants produced germinal reversions to Dharwad early runner in later generations indicating genetic instability. While most of the revertants bred true, some of the mutants continued to segregate, wherein each botanical group of mutants produced all other botanical types. A detailed analysis of the breeding behaviour of mutants revealed several unusual features (such as homozygous mutations, mutation outbursts, segregation distortions, somatic mutations and multiple character mutations) that could not be explained through conventional mutation theory. In the light of these findings, the role of mutations in evolutionary differentiation of the crop and the probable mode of their origin have been discussed.