Regeneration of Plants from Protoplasts of Pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Abstract

Pea, with its numerous varieties and cultivars, is an important protein and vegetable crop. It is used for human and animal nutrition and might be of additional future value as an industrial crop due to some unique features of its starch. Pea is a classical model for physiological and genetic studies; it represents a highly autogamous species, and, since Mendel, it has a well worked-out genetics. Thus pea breeding is not too problematic if compared to partially outcrossing species like the faba bean, and other important grain legumes of the temperate zones. However, as in all other crops, the breeder wants to achieve some goals in his work faster than is possible with conventional means. This, for instance, can be obtained by transferring specific genes of interest directly into the relevant varieties. The application of transformation technology, however, requires, among other needs, the availability of species-adapted plant cell technologies like protoplast regeneration and plant transformation (see also de Kathen and Jacobsen 1993). In addition, some specific objectives, like, for instance, the application of in vitro selection systems, can only be achieved by means of plant cell and tissue culture, where the induction of somaclonal variation frequently is an inherent feature.