Characterization of Pisum sativum Mediterranean accessions by qualitative traits.

Abstract

Nowadays, pea field is getting more attention because of its nutritional values.  The objective of this paper is to characterize and identify relationships among 21 Mediterranean pea accessions.  Fifteen accessions of Pisum sativum subsp. elatius and six accessions of Pisum sativum subsp. arvense were provided by ICARDA (International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas). Twenty qualitative traits were selected according to the guidelines of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). We measured eight vegetative qualitative traits such as presence or absence of leaflets, type of plant axis development and presence or absence of anthocyanin coloration. We measured twelve floral qualitative traits such as standard color, pod color and curvature of the pod. In order to study the clustering of our accessions, we used Past4.03 with the test UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean). The biometric and descriptive analysis we carried out reveals the presence of traits that discriminate accessions. Among these traits, we can cite C15 (vegetative qualitative trait), C23, C31 and C35 (floral qualitative traits). C15 discriminates the accessions TUR10, TUR8, SYR1 and SYR2. C23 distinguishes TUR6, TUR11 and AL2 accessions from other accessions. C31 is a discriminating trait for TUR13 accession. The type of starch grain (C35) discriminates the TUR14 accession. Cluster analysis led to establishing dendrogram allowing a grouping of accessions according to their geographical affiliation. In fact, it is possible to discriminate significantly the accessions TUR10, SYR1 and SYR2 from the accessions TUR12, TUR13, GR1 and TUN which could be an incentive for further improvement and better exploitation.