Narrow leaf mutant: a new plant type in pearl millet

A spontaneous narrow leaf mutant in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.], resembling a grass plant was recovered in a landrace accession IP 8443 from Niger. The mutant was characterized by narrow leaf blades that folded toward the dorsal side and produced five to 24 slender stems. It flowered earlier and produced smaller spikes and seeds than the normal broad leaf plants. In reciprocal crosses involving the mutant and normal leaf plants, the F1 resembled the normal leaf parent, the F2 segregation had a good fit for 3 normal leaf/1 narrow leaf ratio (P, 0.5-.9), and BC1 had a good fit to a 1 normal leaf/1 narrow leaf ratio (P, 0.3-.7), indicating that a single recessive gene designated as ln ln governed the narrow leaf character. This novel mutant might be a useful marker to establish linkage groups and to develop a new plant type