A Suite of Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Near-Isolines: Genetic Resources and Molecular Tools to Breed for Seed Carbohydrate and Protein Quality in Legumes

In recent years there has been a resurgent interest in plant products as substitutes for animal-derived food products, in which legumes, including peas, feature highly. Here, we report on a set of <i>Pisum sativum</i> L. (pea) near-isolines, comprising 24 unique mutants at five loci, where the impact of the mutations on the corresponding enzymes of the starch pathway confers a wrinkled-seeded phenotype. Together with a set of round-seeded mutants impacted at a sixth locus, all 27 mutants show variation for starch composition and protein content. The mutations have been mapped onto three-dimensional protein models to examine potential effects on the corresponding enzyme structures and their activities, and to guide targeted mutagenesis. The mutant lines represent a unique suite of alleles for rapid introduction into elite pea varieties to create new materials for the food and feed markets and industrial applications.