Molecular Control of Fruit Development in Pisum sativum

Bal, Mark Alexander (2024) Molecular Control of Fruit Development in Pisum sativum. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This thesis concerns the molecular mechanisms underpinning the development of the fruit (pod) in the crop legume Pisum sativum (pea), with a split focus on both hormonal influences on seed-to-pod communication, and genetic variation in a yield-relevant pod trait (pod tip pointedness). Legume research outside of nodulation has been substantially neglected since the advent of plant molecular genetics, but the development of increasingly sophisticated tools for managing genomic data and the urgent, climate-driven needs for increases in sustainable plant protein production are poised to fuel a resurgence in crop legume research. Pea is unusual in that it produces both the most common plant auxin (indole-acetic acid, IAA) but also a second, chlorinated auxin known as 4-Cl-IAA. Here, a previously reported role for this dual-auxin system in governing pea pod development is revisited and expanded upon to elucidate how the evolutionary duplication of small-molecule growth regulators might affect signalling. Additionally, the biosynthesis of the second auxin of pea is explored in vitro. Finally, a pea mutation (acutilegumen) which affects whether the pod tip is blunt (as in wild-type) or pointed (in the mutant) is mapped to an LTR-retrotransposon, so providing a candidate sequence underlying the acutilegumen pod phenotype. This research lays the groundwork for the identification of a pharmaceutically relevant pea enzyme and a crop trait which could have impacts on agricultural yield. This thesis informs our empirical understanding of how the duplication of signalling ligands is shaping eudicot evolution.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	03 Jun 2025 07:33
Last Modified:	03 Jun 2025 07:33
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99379
DOI:

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