A question about pea genetics

[ferdzy]

Last fall I saved a bunch of seed from Carouby de Maussane, with the idea that I might like to use them in breeding with shelling peas. I thought they had the best tasting peas, as peas, of any of the mangetouts (snowpeas) I have grown. I guess I am thinking of a pea that could could be used at any stage of development - snow pea, shelling pea, dried for soup...


My question is this: some pods stayed fat and inflated, and some pods stayed tight to the peas. I saved the peas from pods that stayed tight, as one of the things I hate in shelling peas is when the pods inflate before the peas fill out, and you can't tell if they are ripe or not. Is this a trait that is actually inheritable? and are there other traits likely to be associated with this one, assuming it is heritable, and if so, what?

Has anyone saved Carouby de Maussane and sorted the seeds this way before?

[darrenabbey]

It looks like constricted vs. inflated pods is one of the traits Gregor Mendel studied (http://www2.edc.org/weblabs/mendel/mendelsTeacherManual.html) and the constricted trait is the recessive version. Mendel chose traits to publish on that acted simply, so there wasn't any linkage between the traits he studied. There are undoubtedly lots of minor traits linked to the one you mention, but I've never heard of anything specific.

[ferdzy]

Okay. I mean, if I lose some trait I want, these seeds are easy enough to replace. We'll see what happens. Nice to hear it's recessive, too.

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

I grew Dwarf Grey Sugar a few seasons ago. The seed i got from baker creek was mostly off-types that did not conform to the picture on the packet. So i only saved seed from pods that were constricted. I am growing them again this year. Here is a good photo of what constricted pods do when they dry. They generally curl and are extremeley thin (because i assume a lack of fiber genes (and therefore i assume are more tasty)). The picture is courtesy of Rebsie Fairholm and her Luna Trick project.