Morphological and physiological responses of ornamental banana (Musa ornata Roxb.) to sodium azide mutagenesis

Nattapong Srisamoot

Authors

Nattapong Srisamoot Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Kalasin University, Mueang Kalasin, Kalasin 46000, Thailand https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2881-7157

Keywords:

Musa ornata, sodium azide, tissue culture, induced mutation, chlorophyll content

Abstract

Induced mutagenesis represents a practical approach for generating genetic variability in ornamental bananas, where conventional breeding is constrained by sterility and parthenocarpy. This study evaluated the morphological and physiological responses of Musa ornata Roxb. plantlets to sodium azide (NaN₃) treatment under in vitro conditions. Uniform plantlets were exposed to NaN₃ concentrations ranging from 0.0 to 4.0 mM for 1 h, and survival rate, growth-related traits, photosynthetic pigment contents, and leaf color parameters were assessed after 16 weeks of culture. Survival rate declined in a clear concentration-dependent manner, allowing the estimation of LD₃₀ and LD₅₀ values at 1.13 and 2.08 mM, respectively. Among the evaluated traits, fresh weight showed a statistically significant increase at a low NaN₃ concentration (0.1 mM), whereas leaf number, pseudostem length, root traits, photosynthetic pigments, and leaf color parameters exhibited only numerical variation without consistent statistical significance. Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, as well as CIELAB leaf color parameters, did not differ significantly among treatments. These results indicate that NaN₃ primarily affects M. ornata plantlets through concentration-dependent survival responses, while most morphological and physiological traits display descriptive variation at the in vitro stage. The study provides species-specific lethal dose reference values and baseline phenotypic screening information for the application of NaN₃ in ornamental banana mutation breeding. Further studies are required to determine the stability and breeding value of NaN₃-induced variations after the early screening stage.

References

Adamu, A. K., & Aliyu, H. (2007). Morphological effects of sodium azide on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Science World Journal, 2(4), 9–12. https://doi.org/10.4314/swj.v2i4.51755

Arnon, D. I. (1949). Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplasts. Polyphenoloxidase in Beta vulgaris. Plant Physiology, 24(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.24.1.1

Cheng, C., Wu, S., Deng, G., Sheng, O., Yi, G., & Yang, Q. (2024). Recent advances and future directions in banana molecular biology and breeding. Molecular Horticulture, 4, Article 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43897-024-00122-2

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203771587

Field, A. P. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (n.d.). Bananas. FAO Markets and Trade. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/markets-andtrade/publications/banana/en

Galatalı, S. (2023). Mutation breeding in horticultural plants: Importance, advantages, and disadvantages. OBM Genetics, 7(4), Article 198. https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.genet.2304198

Ganesan, M., Bhanumathi, P., & Jayabalan, N. (2005). Mutagenic effect of sodium azide on somatic embryo regeneration and root growth of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. SVPR 2). Journal of Agricultural Technology, 1(2), 365–380.

Gardenia.net. (n.d.). Musa ornata (Flowering Banana). Retrieved August 25, 2025, from https://www.gardenia.net/plant/musa-ornata

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (n.d.). Bananas. The Nutrition Source. Retrieved August 25, 2025, from https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/food-features/bananas/

Hernández-Muñoz, S., Pedraza-Santos, M. E., López, P. A., Gómez-Sanabria, J. M., & Morales-García, J. L. (2019). Mutagenesis in the improvement of ornamental plants. Revista Chapingo Serie Horticultura, 25(3), 151–167. https://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchsh.2018.12.022

Kew Science. (n.d.). Musa ornata Roxb. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved August 25, 2025, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A584973-1

Kumar, N. (2006). Problems and prospects of banana breeding in India. Journal of Horticultural Sciences, 1(2), 77-94. https://doi.org/10.24154/jhs.v1i2.645

Lichtenthaler, H. K., & Wellburn, A. R. (1983). Determinations of total carotenoids and chlorophylls a and b of leaf extracts in different solvents. Biochemical Society Transactions, 11(5), 591–592. https://doi.org/10.1042/bst0110591

Lozada, A., Gómez, D., Hernández, L., Martínez, J., Acosta, Y., Companioni, B., Zevallos-Bravo, B. E., Tapia y Figueroa, M. de L., Sershen, & Lorenzo, J. C. (2025). Technical considerations for use of sodium azide in plant biotechnology-assisted genetic improvement. Biologia, 80(8), 1939–1946. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-025-01942-3

Negi, Y., & Kumar, K. (2025). OsWNK9 mitigates salt stress by promoting root growth and stomatal closure in rice. Physiologia Plantarum, 177(1), e70129. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70129

Raina, A., Ansari, S. B., Khursheed, S., Wani, M. R., Khan, S., & Bhat, T. A. (2021). Mutagens, their types and mechanism of action with an emphasis on sodium azide and gamma radiations. In T. A. Bhat (Ed.), Mutagenesis, cytotoxicity and crop improvement: Revolutionizing food science (pp. 1–37). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Robertson, K., Hamill, S., Wright, C., Bianco, M., Balsom, A., Moller, S., Pramanik, I., Lyons, P., & Daniells, J. (2024). Using mutation breeding to improve the eating characteristics of the Fusarium wilt-resistant banana variety, ‘Goldfnger’ (AAAB). Horticulturae, 10(5), 444. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10050444

Saraswathi, M. S., Kannan, G., Uma, S., & Kalaiponman, K. (2020). Improvement in banana through mutation breeding: Status and prospect. In S. Uma, M. M. Vaganan, & A. Agrawal (Eds.), Bananas and plantains: Leading-edge research and development (Vol. 1, pp. 288–308). ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana.

Srivastava, P., Marker, S., Pandey, P., & Tiwari, D. K. (2011). Mutagenic effects of sodium azide on the growth and yield characteristics in wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell.). Asian Journal of Plant Sciences, 10(3), 190–201. https://doi.org/10.3923/ajps.2011.190.201

Türkoğlu, A., Haliloğlu, K., Tosun, M., Szulc, P., Demirel, F., Eren, B., Bujak, H., Karagöz, H., Selwet, M., Özkan, G., & Niedbała, G. (2023). Sodium azide as a chemical mutagen in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): Patterns of the genetic and epigenetic effects with iPBS and CRED-iPBS techniques. Agriculture, 13(6), 1242. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13061242

Velemínský, J., Rosichan, J. L., Jurícek, M., Kleinhofs, A., Nilan, R. A., & Gichner, T. (1987). Interaction of the mutagenic metabolite of sodium azide, synthesized in vitro, with DNA of barley embryos. Mutation Research, 181(1), 73–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/0027-5107(87)90289-2

Waniale, A., Mukasa, S. B., Tugume, A. K., Barekye, A., & Tumuhimbise, R. (2024). Promising and failed breeding techniques for overcoming sterility and increasing seed set in bananas (Musa spp.). Horticulturae, 10(5), 513. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10050513

Wannajindaporn, A., Kativat, C., & Tantasawat, P. A. (2016). Mutation induction of Dendrobium ‘Earsakul’ using sodium azide. HortScience, 51(11), 1363–1370. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI10860-16

Wu, Z., Liu, S., An, B., Zhang, H., Wu, J., Li, C., & Long, Y. (2024). Mutagenesis and ﬂowering promotion through sodium azide in vitro culture of Cymbidium faberi Rolfe. Horticulturae, 10(8), 889. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10080889