Screening putative gamma-irradiated Plantago ovata (psyllium) mutants for higher mucilage yields.

Myxospermous seeds like Plantago ovata release a heteroxylan-enriched mucilage upon hydration. The mucilage is commonly called psyllium, utilised for food, health, and industrial applications. Low genetic diversity has hindered progress in generating P. ovata well-suited cultivars to abiotic and biotic stress conditions while maintaining high mucilage production. Induced mutation has been reported to generate genetic variation, improving rice and beans crops. This study aims to screen a mutant line with high productivity but without displaying pleiotropic phenotype for identifying genes related to mucilage production. A twenty-seed sample from each mutant line (201 lines) was photographed under a dissecting microscope and weighed using an analytical balance before mucilage extraction. The images were analysed using Fiji ImageJ v1.51 to measure area, perimeter diameter, circularity, and roundness. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) helped to summarise nine variables into two principal components (PC1 and PC2), explaining 97% of the variation in the data. Line 970-1 was selected and named raya (ray), meaning 'greater' in Indonesian, as it produced a high mucilage yield with minimal effects of background mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]