Prospects of the use of wild relatives for pea (Pisum sativum L.) breeding

The current global climate change results in shift and shrinkage of ranges of crop cultivation. The potential of crop wild relatives as an important source of genetic diversity for breeding is underestimated. Wild relatives of pea include the species P. fulvum and the subspecies P. sativum subsp. elatius, whereas wild representatives of P. abyssinicum are unknown. Wild peas are characterized by spontaneous dehiscence of pods and ballistic seed spread. The cultivated pea represents just a phyletic lineage within P. sativum. Pea crop wild relatives are promising with respect to: (1) resistance to pests and pathogens; (2) resistance to abiotic stress; (3) nutritional value; (4) agrotechnical advantages, e.g. branching, ability of hibernation etc.; (5) symbiotic nitrogen fixation (almost no data); etc. P. fulvum is resistant to pea weevil, rust, powdery mildew and ascochyta blight. Some P. sativum subsp. elatius are resistant to nematodes, broomrape, powdery mildew, Fusarium wilt, powdery mildew, root rot, ascochyta blight and white wilt. P. sativum subsp. elatius responds to weevil oviposition by neoplastic pustules of the pod wall controlled by the locus Np. Pisum abyssinicum shows resistance to nematodes and bacterial blight. P. fulvum has a high rate of root growth. Some P. sativum subsp. elatius accessions have lowered transpiration rates, and an accession from Italy survives at –20оС. Analyses of quantitative trait loci have been carried out for resistance of P. fulvum to pea weevil, powdery mildew and rust and for resistance of P. sativum subsp. elatius to broomrape, bacterial blight and ascochyta blight. Aryamanesh et al. (2012) obtained five introgression lines with pea weevil resistance transferred from P. fulvum to P. sativum. The practical use of wild peas is hampered by insufficient awareness of their diversity and differences from cultivated peas. Studies of useful traits of wild peas and their natural diversity, which is rapidly vanishing, should be intensified

On three cultivated subspecies of pea (Pisum sativum L.)

The common pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important crop characterised by high diversity, taxonomic fixation of which may be important for selection as it attracts attention to the taxa recognised, although this recognition can be poorly justified. Two subspecies of the common pea, traditionally recognised in Russian botanical and genetical literature, Pisum sativum L. subsp. transcaucasicum Makasheva from Transcaucasia and Pisum sativum L. subsp. asiaticum Govorov from Anterior and Central Asia and North Africa, are considered, as well as their diagnostic characters and arguments in favour of their subspecific status. P. sativum subsp. transcaucasicum is characterised by small seeds, three pairs of small diamond-shaped leaflets, vigorous branching and full reproductive compatibility with Pisum sativum L. subsp. sativum and has a very limited range in Georgia. As a very local landrace it hardly deserves a subspecific status, however it is reasonable to consider it as a variety, Pisum sativum L. subsp. sativum var. transcaucasicum (Makasheva) Kosterin comb. nov. The subspecies P. sativum subsp. asiaticum practically misses diagnostic characters which are limited to small flowers with presence of some flavonoid pigmentation in the corolla. In fact, this subspecies has accumulated very diverse landraces from most of the Old World. Absence of reliable diagnostic characters makes it impossible to recognise this subspecies. Thus, P. sativum subsp. asiaticum is a later synonym of P. sativum subsp. sativum, to which all cultivated representatives of P. sativum L. should be attributed. A peculiar form traditionally cultivated in Egypt was described as the species Pisum jomardii Schrank and subsequently considered also in the ranks of subspecies and variety; it would better be considered as Pisum sativum L. subsp. sativum var. jomardii (Schrank) Govorov

Pea (Pisum sativum L.): the uneasy fate of the first genetical object

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important vegetable and forage crop capable of improving soils via symbiotic nitrogen fixation. It is of special importance in Russia as a crop adapted to high latitudes and an inexpensive source of plant protein. In addition, pea is the first genetical object used in famous G. Mendel’s experiments. The first translocation in the history of genetics was also found in pea. Pea generation time can be shortened to 35 days, which is comparable with Arabidopsis. However, small and hardly recognizable chromosomes hampered the development of pea cytogenetics, while recombination genetic maps remained inadequate until 1990s, when they were improved only with the aid of molecular methods. Two different notations for pea linkage groups and chromosomes as cytological objects still coexist. Recently, the whole toolbox of modern molecular methods of genetic analysis was applied to pea, including isozymes, RAPD-, SSR-, RFLP-, AFLP-, STS-, CAPS-, sCAPS-, and SNP-markers, as well as methods of reverse genetics including TILLING and virus-induced genomic silencing. Application of association mapping. Several transcriptome studies have been carried out in pea. Meanwhile, we await the completion of pea nuclear genome sequencing in 2016. For working out new molecular markers in pea, the synteny of its genome to the sequenced genome of Medicago truncatula is extensively used. Genetic transformation of pea is very difficult. Pea has been used as an experimental model for investigation of the following fundamental issues: the genetic control of symbiosis with nitrogen fixing bacteria, influence of variation in the histone H1 gene on the phenotype, mechanism of nuclear- cytoplasmic conflict in remote crosses, origin of B-chromosomes in plants, and genetic control of compound leaf morphology

THE LOST ANCESTOR OF THE BROAD BEAN (VICIA FABA L.) AND THE ORIGIN OF PLANT CULTIVATION IN THE NEAR EAST

The broad bean (Vicia faba L.) was among the founder crops of the Near East; nevertheless, its wild close relatives remain unknown. Presumably, its missing wild progenitor had a small range within the Levant and was associated with restricted habitats, so that it was domesticated entirely as a species. Its habitats are supposed to have been situated along floodplain/slope borders (“transeluvial-accumulative barriers”) providing favorable edaphic conditions. These restricted natural habitats of the broad bean could be foci of early cultivation activities, thus becoming nascent fields. It is hypothesized that the broad bean, a conspicuous plant with large seeds and restricted habitats, could be the Near Eastern “primer crop”, which provoked the first emergence of the idea and practice of plant cultivation and “invention” of the field

Occasional photographic records of butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) in Cambodia. 1. The coastal Cardamom foothills (SW Cambodia), 2010-2018

Results are presented of occasional photographic records of butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) made along with studies on the Odonata fauna in 63 localities of four coastal provinces of SW Cambodia (Koh Kong, Preah Sihanouk, Kampot and Kep) in 2010-2018. In total, 151 identified and 15 provisionally identified species are listed; 39 identified species (Troides helena, Graphium agetes, Prioneris philomone, Abisara echerias, Arhopala abseus, A. aedias, A. aida, A. alitaeus, A. atosia, A. avatha, A. bazaloides, A. elopura, Cigaritis lohita, Sinthusa nasaka, Lampides boeticus, Udara selma, Zizeera karsandra, Danaus affinis, Euploea phaenareta, Parantica agleoides, Cyrestis themire, Euthalia malaccana, E. phemius, Discophora timora, Lethe mekara, Badamia exclamationis, Burara harisa, Odina decorata, Tagiades menaka, Ancistroides nigrita, Gangara lebadea, Halpe zola, Hyrtaotis adrastus, Lotongus calathus, Matapa aria, M. sasivarna, Pirdana hyela, Suastus minutus, Thoressa masoni) and 8 provisionally identified species (Poritia cf. erycinoides, Nacaduba cf. pavana, ?Cephrenes acalle, Erionota cf. torus, Halpe cf. hauxvillei, Notocrypta cf. clavata, Potanthus cf. subochraceus, ?Polytremis lubricans) are for the first time reported for Cambodia. These, as well as some other provisionally identified and unidentified species are illustrated. The only not so expected record is a Sondaic species Arhopala athada

Abyssinian pea (Lathyrus schaeferi Kosterin nom. nov. pro Pisum abyssinicum A. Br.) is a problematic taxon

The Abyssinian pea (Pisum abyssinicum A. Br.), concerned in this review, is known from Ethiopia and Yemen, where it is cultivated along with the common pea (Pisum sativum L. subsp. sativum). The continuously reproduced notion of its possible spontaneous occurrence in the wild ascends to suppositions made in the XIX century and is not based on any actual data. P. abyssinicum is of practical interest owing to its extra early ripening and resistance to bacterial blight. Morphologically it is very similar to P. sativum but its crossability with it is bad as either seed or pollen parent. Traditionally this reproductive barrier was associated with karyological differences. The Abyssinian pea karyotype is variable as 1–2 reciprocal translocations were reported. At the same time there are accessions not differing from the standard karyotype of P. sativum with respect to reciprocal translocations, yet their crossability with the latter is very low and the pollen fertility of F1 and F2 hybrids is lowered. Data were reported on influence of the region of Linkage Group III, containing a gene known to participate in the conflict of nucleus and plastids in remote crosses of peas, on the pollen fertility of hybrids with abyssinian pea. With their karyological variability, the known accessions of the Abyssinian pea are very close to each other genetically, as they diverged just about 4000 years ago. The presence of alleles of molecular markers common with Pisum fulvum Sibth. et Smith on the one hand and P. sativum L. subsp. elatius (Bieb.) Schmalh. on the other hand evidences in favour of an old hypotheses by L.I. Govorov that the Abyssinian pea originated from their spontaneous hybrid. This spontaneous cross may have taken place under cultivation, in Yemen or Afar Depression. A representative of P. sativum subsp. elatius was revealed, the F1 hybrids of which with the Abyssinian pea as a seed parent had fully fertile pollen. P. abyssinicum× P. fulvum crosses provide the best hybrid seed outcome among remote crosses conducted, so that P. abyssinicum can be used as a ‘bridge’ for gene introgression from P. fulvum to P. sativum. Rather a high evel of reproductive isolation of the Abyssinian pea from other representatives of the genus conforms the biological species concept, however the disposition of P. abyssinicum accessions as a small cluster among accessions of P. sativum subsp. elatius on molecular phylogeny reconstructions violates the phylogenetic species concept. Most authors assume the Abyssinian pea as a species, Pisum abyssinicum, some as a subspecies, P. sativum subsp. abyssinicum (A. Br.) Berger. Perhaps it would be most correct to consider it as a hybridogenic species. Because of the recent subsuming of the genus Pisum L. into the genus Lathyrus and with respect to the existing name Lathyrus abyssinicus A. Br. (a synonym of L. sativus L.), the Abyssinian pea is given a new name Lathyrus schaeferi (A. Braun) Kosterin nomen novum pro Pisum abyssinicum A. Braun), in honour of Hanno Schaefer, who substantiated the revision of tribe Fabeae by molecular reconstruction of its phylogeny. New combinations of Lathyrus sectio Pisum (L.) Kosterin combinatio nova and Lathurus fulvus (Sibthrop et Smith) Kosterin combinatio nova are proposed

Contact angles at the water–air interface of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils and clay minerals

© 2016, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.Contact angles at the water–air interface have been measured for triturated preparations of clays and soils in order to assess changes in their hydrophobic properties under the effect of oil hydrocarbons. Tasks have been to determine the dynamics of contact angle under soil wetting conditions and to reveal the effect of chemical removal of organic matter from soils on the hydrophilicity of preparations. The potentialities of static and dynamic drop tests for assessing the hydrophilic–hydrophobic properties of soils have been estimated. Clays (kaolinite, gumbrine, and argillite) have been investigated, as well as plow horizons of soils from the Republic of Tatarstan: heavy loamy leached chernozem, medium loamy dark gray forest soil, and light loamy soddy-calcareous soil. The soils have been contaminated with raw oil and kerosene at rates of 0.1–3 wt %. In the uncontaminated and contaminated chernozem, capillary water capacity has been maintained for 250 days. The contact angles have been found to depend on the degree of dispersion of powdered preparation, the main type of clay minerals in the soil, the presence and amount of oxidation-resistant soil organic matter, and the soil–water contact time. Characteristic parameters of mathematical models for drop behavior on triturated preparations have been calculated. Contamination with hydrocarbons has resulted in a reliable increase in the contact angles of soil preparations. The hydrophobization of soil surface in chernozem is more active than in soils poorer in organic matter. The complete restoration of the hydrophilic properties of soils after hydrocarbon contamination is due to the oxidation of easily oxidizable organic matter at the low content of humus, or to wetting during several months in the absence of the mazut fraction

Obscuring the routes: confused data cannot reveal phylogeography of pea crop wild relatives (refutation to ‘Genomic diversity and macroecology of the crop wild relatives of domesticated pea’ by Smýkal et al. 2017)

Profound data confusion is reported for the paper by Smýkal et al. (Genomic diversity and macroecology of the crop wild relatives of domesticated pea. Scientific Reports 7, 17384; 2017) which challenges the validity of its scientific conclusion and the data reported

Identification of the gene coding for seed cotyledon albumin SCA in the pea (Pisum L.) genome

Albumins SCA and SAA are short, highly hydrophilic proteins accumulated in large quantities in the cotyledons and seed axes, respectively, of a dry pea (Pisum sativum L.) seed. SCA was earlier shown to have two allelic variants differing in mobility in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in acid medium. Using them, the corresponding gene SCA was mapped on Linkage Group V. This protein was used as a useful genetic and phylogeographical marker, which still required electrophoretic analysis of the protein while the DNA sequence of the corresponding SCA gene remained unknown. Based on the length, the positive charge under acidic conditions and the number of lysine residues of SCA and SAA albumins, estimated earlier electrophoretically, the data available in public databases were searched for candidates for the SCA gene among coding sequences residing in the region of the pea genome which, taking into account the synteny of the pea and Medicago truncatula genomes, corresponds to the map position of SCA. Then we sequenced them in a number of pea accessions. Concordance of the earlier electrophoretic data and sequence variation indicated the sequence Psat0s797g0160 of the reference pea genome to be the SCA gene. The sequence Psat0s797g0240 could encode a minor related albumin SA-a2, while a candidate gene for albumin SAA is still missing (as well as electrophoretic variation of both latter albumins). DNA amplification using original primers SCA1_3f and SCA1_3r from genomic DNA and restriction by endonuclease HindII made it possible to distinguish the SCA alleles coding for protein products with different charges without sequencing the gene. Thus, the gene encoding the highly hydrophilic albumin SCA accumulated in pea seeds, the alleles of which are useful for classification of pea wild relatives, has now been identified in the pea genome and a convenient CAPS marker has been developed on its basis

The plastid and mitochondrial genomes of <i>Vavilovia Formosa</i> (Stev.) Fed. and the phylogeny of related legume genera

The plastid and mitochondrial genomes of Vavilovia formosa (Stev.) Fed. were assembled on the base of the data of high-throughput sequencing of DNA isolated from a sample from North Osetia, Russia, using Illumina and PacBio platforms. The long PacBio reads were sufficient for reliable assembling organellar genomes while the short Illumina reads obtained from total DNA were unacceptable for this purpose because of substantial contamination by nuclear sequences. The organellar genomes were circular DNA molecules; the genome of mitochondria was represented by two circular chromosomes. A phylogenetic analysis on the basis of plastid genomes available in public databases was performed for some representatives of the tribes Fabeae, Trifolieae and Cicereae. As was expected, the V. formosa branch proved to be sister to the Pisum branch, and the tribe Fabeae was monophyletic. The position of Trifolium L. appeared sensitive to the phylogeny reconstruction method, either clustering with Fabeae or with the genera Medicago L., Trigonella L. and Melilotus Mill., but the internodes between successive divergences were short in all cases, suggesting that the radiation of Trifolium, other Trifolieae and Fabeae was fast, occurring within a small time interval as compared to further evolution of these lineages. The data on the relatedness of the plastid genomes of Trifolium and Fabeae correlate with the similarity of N2-fixing symbionts in these legumes represented by Rhizobium leguminosarum biovars trifolii and viciae, while the symbionts of Medicago, Melilotus and Trigonella belong to the Sinorhizobium meliloti and S. medicae species, which are distant from Rhizobium