On the role of anthocyanins in vegetative tissues: a relationship with stem length in pea seedlings

Abstract

Red-stemmed pea seedlings grown from a heterogeneous lot of seeds (P.I. 356980) were shorter than green-stemmed seedlings grown from the same lot. Crosses between the two types show that the red stems are dominant to green stems with a 3:1 ratio in the F2. Stem lengths of the red-stemmed F2 plants, however, were not significantly different from those of the green-stemmed F2 plants. It is concluded that the presence of anthocyanins is not a direct cause of shorter stem length, nor are the genetic loci concerned linked. Other reasons for the association of shorter stems with red colouration are being investigated.