Technical Paper
Improving Light Interception by Selecting Morphological Leaf Phenotypes: A Case Study Using a Semi-Leafless Pea Mutant
1999-07-12
1999-01-2102
Among the species which are considered suitable candidates for life support programs, legumes would be highly valued because of their high protein content and their capacity to fix N2 under symbiotic conditions. The legume, Pisum sativum, has a short life-cycle (48 days), is easily cultivated, does not required any special seed treatment to germinate, and all parts of its shoot are edible, all of which make peas a possible candidate crop for life support programs. In conventional pea cultivars, the leaf has a compound structure with over 95% of the laminar surface provided by leaflets and stipules. In the semi-leafless pea mutants, where the “afila” mutation is present, all leaflets are replaced by tendril complexes.
