Antigibberellin-induced reduction of internode length favors in vitro flowering and seed-set in different pea genotypes

In vitro flowering protocols were developed for a limited number of early flowering pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars. This work was undertaken to understand the mechanisms regulating in vitro flowering and seed-set across a range of pea genotypes. Its final goal is to accelerate the generation cycle for faster breeding novel genotypes. We studied the effects of in vivo and in vitro applications of the antigibberellin Flurprimidol together with radiation of different spectral compositions on intact plants, plants with the meristem removed, or excised shoot tip explants. Based on our results, we present a simple and reliable system to reduce generation time in vitro across a range of pea genotypes, including mid and late flowering types. With this protocol, more than five generations per year can be obtained with mid to late flowering genotypes and over six generations per year for early to mid flowering genotypes.