Ancestry and characterization of U.S. contemporary proprietary garden pea (Pisum sativum L. convar. medullare Alef.) germplasm

A major objective of this work is to elucidate the ancestry and genetic background of contemporary U.S. garden pea (Pisum sativum L. convar. medullare Alef.) cultivars used as cultivated vegetables. This is facilitated through pedigree analysis of 147 cultivars registered during the era from 1990 through 2010 by collecting data from U.S. Plant Variety Protection, U.S. utility patent, and journal publication. Proprietary breeding programs developed 141 cultivars and public programs six, with over half (82 of 147 cultivars) originating from the two (Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc. and Syngenta Seeds, Inc.) largest proprietary breeding programs. During this era, the semi-leafless (afila) trait was bred into cultivars to decrease lodging, and 43 % of the cultivars were afila. Registered cultivars were 86 % of determinate growth habit. Bi-parental breeding crosses were used in the development of 78 % of these cultivars. The lineages of the cultivars ‘Bolero’, ‘Spring’, ‘Genie’, and ‘Rally’ made large contributions to the genetic composition of this germplasm, ‘Bolero’ contributed 6.5 % (29 progeny), ‘Spring’ 6.4 % (29), ‘Genie’ 4.0 % (18), and ‘Rally’ 3.6 % (23) of the genes. The garden pea ancestor cultivar ‘Perfection’ fostered the most descendants (75) among the 147 cultivars of this era.