Variegated Peas

[Tarruvi]

I was wondering what the frequency would be of finding a variegated or albino pea (Pisum sativum). I've never seen any in person, but there is this article about a variegated pea. I had contacted the author of the article about it and they unfortunately lost the plant, so it never produced seeds.

Since variegation can be inherited if it's genetic, and plants like tomatoes, lemon grass, and nasturtiums have varieties that exhibit this sort of trait. I was left to wonder, and did some research on how likely variegation may pop up in a plant grown from seed. The numbers may differ from species to species, but estimates put the odds anywhere from 1/1,000 to 1/100,000 plants either developing or being born with variegation.

I personally have not seen variegated peas in person, or albino ones... But, I have seen some variegated catchflies growing in my garden last year. I had them self sow for about 6-7 years, and never saw any deviation until last year. So I removed all the plants that were not variegated, just to tip the scales in favor of the variegated mutants. This year, I have a bunch of pea seeds set aside for the purpose of finding this trait and the method is to grow them like microgreens.

[AndrewB]

It's not very common. I've been growing peas regularly since about 2010.

I think around 2014 I had a breeding population where I got about 3-5 albino seedlings. One of them started to develop some green, but it did not survive past seedling stage. I'm not sure why. I think the roots got eaten by a pest.

It might be a numbers game. Probably possible, but difficult. Using mutation breeding (UV-C sterilizer?) might be better or searching the JIC database for leaf mutations and corresponding germplasm.

[Tarruvi]

I believe it will be a numbers game, so having them grow like microgreens would quicken the process of starting seeds and sorting through all the seedlings for any variegation. So far, about 400 seedlings have been grown this way, and none were variegated or albino.

I did worry about pests eating them. So, I chose the indoor microgreen strategy to also avoid weather/animal/pest damage in the event a variegated seedling appears.

[galina gardiner]

Albino in beans equals moribund, ie not going to make it.  I have occasionally seen it in beans, but never seen it in peas.  A complete lack of chlorophyll would mean the same, the plant wouldn't live.  Neither have I ever seen variegated pea plants, ie with green leaves, but with pale yellow or white edges.   

[Tarruvi]

I know that albino seedlings don't make it, but the exception to that rule is either grafted or parasitic plants. But I'm not gonna try to keep albino seedlings alive, as the only plants I'm interested in are the variegated type.

My plans for one that does show up miraculously, is save the seeds. Then cross these plants with other varieties, as the stock seeds are of the inedible podded type. I imagine ornamental plants would benefit from having this trait, or, maybe plants with this trait could withstand summer temperatures better with the white and yellow sections reflecting light away? But then again, they might just be more prone to sunburn.

[galina gardiner]

The most 'variegated' I have had is Schweizer Riesen.  There is a lot of white in the foliage and as the red from the axil colour is also 'bleeding' into the leaves, this was quite pretty. 

[AndrewB]

Though I don't grow any variegated plants,  my understanding is that it is a mix of damaged mitochondria and a few functional mitochondria. Or I guess in this case, chloroplasts.

In which case I would imagine they grow slower and are not as hardy. Ie, they would be harder to keep alive. The white sections may also get sunburned easily. Maybe this is the reason that one died. My climate is high elevation and the sunlight here is intense. Even many typical vegetable varities don't thrive here.

[Tarruvi]

Those are some prominent speckles on those leaves galina. And the red streaks on the plant look pretty cool. I wonder if that could lead to a more reddish leaved plant if bred with other pea varieties that exhibit something similar? Kinda like how some coleus have red/purple leaves.

There are rare sightings of variegated plants in the wild Andrew. But, these rare instances are attributed to the plants being weaker and selected against in the wild. Not being able to photosynthesize as effectively, as you've mentioned.

[galina gardiner]

Those are some prominent speckles on those leaves galina. And the red streaks on the plant look pretty cool.

Unfortunately it was, I believe, simply weather related that particular year.  Have never since seen them this prominent since and not at all last year.  The white spots have a simple explanation, something like air bubbles iirr. But it was pretty, I must say. 

[Tarruvi]

It's unfortunate that the red bleeding into the leaves was weather related. Bubbled variegation can be pretty, but it does mislead me sometimes when sorting through seedlings for the mosaic type of variegation.

[Tarruvi]

New development in my search for a variegated seedling, I may have found one:


I initially found this seedling among my recent grow-out of 900-ish seedlings about a week ago. Making it 1 out of about 3,000 seedlings to have a pattern resembling variegation. I waited a week or so to make sure that the light green speckled on it didn't go away, and persisted after a few more nodes grew on the plant. And sure enough, it has kept them.

In this photo, note the light green streaks on the second set of stipules. Not as eye catching as more yellow or white streaks would be, but I am happy to have something to show for the year I spent sifting through leggy seedlings.

I know that some variegated plants differ in their appearance, even in varieties that are known to be variegated like: Japonica Corn, Alaska Nasturtium, and Fish Peppers. Some individuals may have an even distribution of green and white, or go to the extremes and have little-to-a-lot of variegation.

You can see the light green speckles on the new set of leaves, they're so cute. My hope is that this plant will produce seeds, and when it does, those seedlings will be variegated and express the trait more or less. Mostly more, if I'm being honest. lol

[Tarruvi]

The 4th stipules opened and are showing a lot of bubble variegation, a silvery contrast to the light green variegated leaves coming out of the same node:


I don't know the genetics behind the light green variegation, but I have a theory. Would they be lighter, or even white, if the plant had fibreless pod genes? Let me explain my theory. In pods with fiber, especially yellow-podded varieties, they tend to turn green as a result of the fibers themselves being green. As these pods are fibrous, the genes should have some effect on the rest of the plant as well. In wildtype peas, I've noticed their leaves tend to be more rigid and tough. While varieties bred for edible pods tend to have softer and more fragile leaves. So it would stand to reason that if my variegated pea were from a variety with fibreless pods, that they could in theory be made brighter?

This could be a nice opportunity to put my theory to the test. I do have edible podded peas growing, and their flowering period should align with the variegated pea's. Once the variegated plant has mature flowers, I'll take the pollen and put it on the fibreless pod variety. I should have my results around the time I get to the F2s, but that also depends on if my pea has genetically stable variegation.

[Tarruvi]

All the new growth is coming in, and the summer sun has begun to beat down on the plants indoors and out. Some of the bottom leaves have begun to dry out, but that's to be expected with the small plant pot I have it in. Anyway, here's a photo of the 5th stipules:

A much larger variegated section on the left one has emerged, it was hard to see with the sun always shining on it. But, in the right lighting it is there.

So far, it hasn't put out any flowers. And seems to be focused on growing taller, as it's about 3 feet tall now. Maybe it'll put all that growth to good use and set out a lot of pods for a good amount of seeds?

These are the 6th stipules and leaflets, the stipules here don't have much visible variegation. But, the leaflets have a sprinkling of variegation. There's more growth after this node, but the vegetation hasn't grown large enough to display much. Looking through the old photos, the variegation seems to be growing a nice contrast. As before, it was leaning more green. Now, it's starting to turn slightly more yellow.

[Tarruvi]

The first flower on the variegated pea has bloomed! Note the yellow wedge on the bottom portion of the left stipule:

Unfortunately, the anthers seem to have failed to drop pollen in this flower. I checked when I removed the keel. Good news is there is another flower bud on this plant, hopefully it can produce pollen in that one. But for this first bloom, I decided to pollinate it with pollen from my reliably prolific snow peas growing outside. At the very least, I can get a handful of F1 seeds that carry the variegated trait. Having them form now would be a best-case scenario v.s. deadheading the first bloom and finding out the second also was a dud on pollen production.

If this was a successful cross (I sure hope the entire flower isn't sterile), then I should see some variegated F2s next year. But if the second flower is a good one, I could be seeing them the rest of the growing season as a part of my 3rd pea crop for the year.