Development of Pinkeye-type Southernpeas with Green Cotyledons

Abstract

A breeding program was initiated in 1990 to develop a pinkeye-type southernpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] cultivar homozygous for the gc gene conditioning green cotyledons. The pinkeye is the leading cultivar class of southernpea grown in the U.S., and there is considerable interest in converting pinkeye germplasm to green cotyledon phenotypes because a cultivar homozygous for the gc gene can be harvested at the near-dry seed stage of maturity without loss of the seed's fresh green color. Seeds containing embryos homozygous for the gt gene are easily identified, and this ability to select in the seed stage greatly facilitated breeding efforts. A total of 25 advanced breeding lines (F9 and F10) were evaluated in preliminary field tests in 1995, and the experimental line US-858 was selected for seed multiplication, field testing, and raw product evaluation in 1996. The results of 1996 replicated yield trials conducted in South Carolina and seed multiplication plantings grown in El Salvador, Georgia, and Florida indicate that the maturity, seed, and yield characteristics of US-858 are comparable to those of the leading pinkeye-type cultivars. Raw product evaluations were conducted at a commercial freezing facility in Georgia, and the results indicate that US-858 produces an excellent processed product. The results of field inoculation tests conducted in Georgia indicate that US-858 is resistant to blackeye cowpea mosaic virus, the major pathogen of southernpea in the U.S.