International Research Journal of Biological Sciences ___________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202Vol. 3(1), 70-72, January (2014) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 70 Short Communication Morphotaxonomy and Phenology of three different accessions of Sesbania cannabina PoirSrivastava Nitisha1* and Kumar Girjesh2 Botanical Survey of India, Headquarter, C.G.O. Complex, DF Block, Sector –I, Salt Lake City, Kolkata-700064, WB, INDIA Plant Genetics Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad-211002, U.P., INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in, www.isca.me Received 7th September 2013, revised 24th October 2013, accepted 23rd November 2013Abstract Present experiment was undertaken to study the morphological and phenological variations among the three different accessions viz. E2435736, E2435738 and E2466700 of Sesbania cannabina obtained from NBPGR, New Delhi, India. For this purpose dry and healthy seeds were soaked in distilled water for 14 hours. After soaking seeds were sown in field in a definite pattern at Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India. Sowing was done in the month of June, 2009. Data for germination and survival percentages were taken after 15 and 30 days, respectively. The study of phenology was undertaken to investigate number of days required for flowering initiation in all three accessions. The morphotaxonomy of three accessions showed that accession no. E2435738 and E2466700 are closer to each other than the E22435736. Accession number E22435736 was found to be an early flowering accession. Keywords: Sesbania cannabina, accessions, morphotaxonomy, phenology, germination, survival. Introduction Sesbania cannabina Poir. belongs to family fabaceae and is an annual slender subshrub, up to 3.5m tall. It is commonly called canicha, danchi, dunchi fibre, prickly sesban, pricky sisham, sesbania pea (English); sesbane (French); canicha, danchi, dhaincha (Hindi); sanô (Tibetan); mrindazia, msalia-Nyuma (Swahili); sano-khangkhok (Thai). Its native distribution remains unclear since it has been introduced and naturalised in a wide area and has been reported from India, Iraq, Myanmar, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Phillipines, Mauritius, Ghana, Indo-China and the South Pacific Islands. It is thought to be native to Australia in all inland states except for Victoria, and also in the Northern Territory, and extending its native range in the islands to the north into Papua New Guinea and Indonesia It is cultivated almost in monsoon season and grows well in loamy, clayey, black and sandy soil. Annual Sesbania species such as S. cannabina, S. rostrata and S. bispinosa are widely used in Asia as green manures in paddy rice cultivation because of their ability to withstand waterlogging. Techniques and timing of interplanting . cannabina for use as a green manure for rice have been developed in southern China (FAO, 1977). It grows well under waterlogged or un irrigated conditions, tolerant to high temperatures (36-44°C), high soil alkalinity (pH 10) and establishes during rainy season in a wide variety of soils such as loamy, clayey, black and sandy soils. Sesbania cannabina is normally spreading shrub, but in dense stands they are less branched. They grow very rapidly and may reach a height of over 3.5 m in 6 months, making them very competitive with weeds. Root nodules that effectively fix atmospheric nitrogen are formed with Rhizobium. The taxonomy of the 3 annual species (Sesbania cannabina, S. sericea and S. bispinosa) of Sesbania is very confusing and in the agronomic literature it is often impossible to attribute information unequivocally to a single species. The differences between Sesbania bispinosa and Sesbania cannabina in particular are small and can mainly be found in the morphology of the keel. Sesbania cannabina has sometimes been included in Sesbania bispinosa and also in Sesbania sericea. Only a thorough, worldwide revision of the genus might bring clarity. Present study describes the variations between 3 different accessions of Sesbania cannabina. Material and Methods Three different accessions E2435736, E2435738 and E2466700 of Sesbania cannabina were ontained from National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi. Dry and healthy seeds of each accessions were soaked in distilled water for 14 hrs. After soaking seeds were sown in field in a definite pattern in Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad-211002, India to raise the population. Data for germination and survival percentages were taken after 15 and 30 days respectively. Data for morphological characteristics were taken after 45 days and days to flower intiation was the number of days required to initiation of flower in plants. Data for seed length, breadth was taken after completion of experiment. Statistical analysis was done using statistica 8 software. International Research Journal of Biological Sciences ________________________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202 Vol. 3(1), 70-72, January (2014) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 71 Results and Discussion Germination and survival percentages: Table 1 show the germination and survival percentages of three accessions of Sesbania cannabina. The values for germination and survival percentages are same in case of 1st (E2435736) and 2nd (E2435738) accessions which are 66% and 75%, respectively. While germination and survival percentages in case of rdaccession (E2466700) was higher i.e. 83% and 100%, respectively. Table-1 Germination and survival percentages of three different accessions of Sesbania cannabinaSesbania cannabinaaccessions Germination % (mean) Survival % (mean) E243573666 75 E2435738 66 75 E2466700 83 100 Morphological Characteristics (table 2): Among all three different accessions 2nd and 3rd accession appears to be closer with each other. While the 1st accession showed more distant relationship among all three. The plant height and stem girth in case of 1staccession was minimum, while maximum in case of rd accession. Internodes length in all three accessions showed much variation, as it was 7.64±0.20 cm in case of 3rd accession and 5.65±0.17 cm in case of 1st accession. Unlike the plant length, stem girth and internodes length the maximum number of leaves/plant was observed in case of 2nd accession and minimum in case of 3rd accession. The number of days required for initiation of flower was considerably less in case of 1staccession (33 days), while 65 days in case of two other accessions. The maximum seed length was observed in case of nd accession, while minimum was in case of 3rd accession. Maximum and minimum seed width was observed in case of 1stand 2nd accession, respectively. Seed coat colour of 1st and 2ndaccession was deep brown and shiny, while incase of 3rdaccession it was light brown with black patches. Discussion: Sesbania cannabina is a multipurpose leguminous crop and is widely adaptable to different adverse climatic conditions such as waterlogging, drought, soil salinity, etc. It is widely used as green manure crop due to presence of root nodules and inherent nitrogen fixation capacity. Beside these facts Sesbania germplasm resource base has received inadequate attention. The collections of approximately 125 accessions maintained at the Department of Agronomy and Soil Science, University of Hawaii, and of approximately 180 accessions (including many endemic Australian accessions) gathered by Australia's CSIRO, are perhaps the largest in existence. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also maintains some Sesbania cannabina. More extensive collections of materials, particularly from Africa and South Asia, are an urgent need for future selection and breeding programmes of this genus. Table-2 Morphological characteristics of three different accessions of Sesbania cannabinaCharacters Sesbania cannabinaaccession no. Mean±SE Plant height (cm) E2435736170.00±0.00 E2435738180.00±0.00 E2466700200.00±2.88 Stem girth (cm) E24357363.62±0.10 E24357383.92±0.07 E24667003.96±0.05 Internode length (cm) E24357365.65±0.17 E24357385.98±0.30 E24667007.64±0.20 No. of leaves/plant E243573639.50±0.50 E243573836.65±0.50 E246670032.20±1.28 Days to Initiation of first flower E243573633 days E243573865 days E246670065 days Seed length (mm) E24357363.30±0.22 E24357383.86±0.97 E24667002.90±0.10 Seed breadth (mm) E24357362.00±0.00 E24357381.92±0.04 E24667001.96±0.04 Seed coat colour E2435736Deep brown & shiny E2435738Deep brown & shiny E2466700Light brown with black patches During the present study even with such small accession numbers, high levels of genetic variability were observed. Among the three accessions studied intraspecific variability was observed for all the characters evaluated. Second and third accession is closer, while first accession shows more variation from the 2nd and 3rd accession. The considerable variations were observed in case of internode length between 3rd and two other accessions. Differences between no. of leaves/plant and seed lengths of three different accessions was also considerable, while difference between seed width was not considerable. Number of days required for flowering in case of 1st accession is half as in case of other two accessions. Conclusion On the basis of considerable variations between these three different accessions these can be developed into separate varieties and accession no. E2435736 may be developed as an early flowering variety with great value. The early flowering varieties takes less time in field and provide flowers, fruit and seeds in less time which is of great economic importance. International Research Journal of Biological Sciences ________________________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202 Vol. 3(1), 70-72, January (2014) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 72 Acknowledgements Authors are thankful to NBPGR, New Delhi, India for providing accessions of Sesbania cannabina. References1.Gillett J.B., Sesbania in Africa (excluding Madagascar) and southern Arabia, Kew Bulletin, 17, 91-159 (1963) 2.Prasad M.N.V., Bioresource potential of Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W F Wight, Bioresource Technology, 44, 251–254 (1993)3.Ipor I.B. and Oyen L.P.A., Sesbania AdansonIn: Faridah Hanum, I & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (Editors). Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 11: Auxiliary plants. Backhuys Publisher, Leiden, The Netherlands, 236-240 (1997)4.Kumar G. and Srivastava N., Gamma rays induced cytomorphological variations in Sesbania cannabina Poir., Cytologia, 76(4), 375-380 (2011) 5.Evans D.O., Sesbania research in Hawaii: Summary of a project. Nitrogen Fixing Tree Research Reports , 57-58 (1986)