COMPARISON OF NEAR-ISOGENIC LEAFED, LEAFLESS, SEMI-LEAFLESS, AND REDUCED STIPULE LINES OF PEAS FOR YIELD AND ASSOCIATED TRAITS

Yield and associated traits on an individual plant basis were studied in near-isogenic lines of Century and Trapper peas (Pisum sativum L.). The lines were near-isogenic for normal leaves (++++), semi-leafless (afaf++ — leaflets replaced by tendrils), reduced stipules (++stst), and leafless (afafstst — tendrils and reduced stipules). The data indicate that the genotypic background greatly influences the performance of the semi-leafless and leafless mutants. In the Century background, the semi-leafless type yielded similar to the leafed type. However, the yield of the leafless type was significantly reduced. In the Trapper background, the semi-leafless phenotype was markedly inferior to the normal type. These mutations had no consistent effect on yield or associated traits.