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Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is one of the ancient and valuable high-protein leguminous cultures in the world. Breeding of new high-yielding cultivars is the main reserve to increase production of pea seeds. At the present time, intraspecific hybridization has a great importance in selection of new cultivars of pea. However, consistent patterns of inheritance of a number of economically valuable traits by hybrids are still insufficiently investigated. The objective of this research work was to study inheritance of seed size (1000-kernel weight) by pea hybrids of the first and second filial generations (F1, F2). The crossing and back-crossing (reciprocal crossing) were conducted. In our experiments, the first filial generation hybrids (F1) had a lower 1000-kernel weight than the large-seeded parental cultivars. Herewith the large-seeded genotype of the female parental cultivar had more influence on displaying of this trait in hybrids than of the male parental cultivar. In the second filial generation hybrids (F2) showed intermediate inheritance of seed size. The results of our experiments attest high efficiency of seed size selection in segregating generations of hybrids, obtained from crosses between cultivars carrying genes of seed size.

A small family of ARGOS genes encodes transmembrane proteins that act as negative regulators of ethylene signaling. Recent studies show that ARGOS genes are involved in the regulation of plant growth under the influence of stress factors. However, the role of ARGOS genes in this process is poorly known. Thereby, our goal was to determine the expression profile of these genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana tabacum in response to phytohormone treatment and stress factors. We discovered that expression of the AtARGOS and AtARGOS-LIKE genes of A. thaliana is regulated by ethylene and depends on environmental conditions. The highest expression level of the NtARGOS-LIKE1 gene of tobacco (NtARL1) was observed in blooming flowers and young organs. It was induced by auxins, ethylene, ABA, methyl jasmonate as well as hypothermia, drought, salinity and heat stresses. To evaluate the impact of ARGOS genes on plant growth under stress, we created transgenic tobacco plants with constitutive expression of the AtARGOS-LIKE gene of A. thaliana (AtARL), controlled by a strong Dahlia mosaic virus promoter. Overexpression of the AtARL gene contributed to an increase in the volume and quantity of mesophyll cells in the leaves of tobacco under normal conditions, and also to an improvement in root growth under salinity, cold and cadmium treatment. The AtARL transgene produced a positive effect on shoot growth when exposed to drought and high salinity, and a negative effect under cold stress. Accordingly, genes of the ARGOS family can be recommended as targets for genetic engineering and genome editing in order to enhance productivity and stress tolerance of economically important plants.

Peas have become the most important leguminous crop worldwide. Large areas in Russia are used for pea growing. Unfavourable weather and climatic conditions often lead to a significant yield decline. There is an urgent need to develop new high-yielding varieties adapted to local conditions. The current paper presents the results of long-term breeding of modern pea cultivars Chishminsky 229, Pamiati Hangildina, Pamiati Popova, meeting the requirements of agricultural production. The research was conducted in the Bashkir Agricultural Research Institute. The varieties were bred by repeated single selection based on intervariety hybridization. Chishminsky 229 and Pamiati Hangildina cultivars are included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements. Pamiati Popova is currently undergoing state variety testing. According to the comparative testing in 2016-2020, the excess yield compared to Chishminsky 95 standard variety was 2.1 c/ha for Chishminsky 229 variety, 1.9 c/ha for Pamiati Hangildina cultivar, and 3.2 c/ha for Pamiati Popova cultivar.