In an investigation performed in 1973 two electrophoretic seed al-
bumin patterns, designated A and B, were found to occur in cultivars and
breeding lines of P. sativum (3). After extending the study to include
other forms or Pisum five patterns were found, designated EP I - EP V,
EP I corresponding to previous pattern B (2). The distribution of these
EP patterns indicated possible differences between Pisum taxa at the
species-ecotype level. Analysis of seed albumins by means of gel
filtration and electrophoretic analysis of the main protein peaks showed
the fraction with MW of about 40,000 to be responsible for the observed
differentiation of total albumin patterns (1). This report presents
further data on variation in electrophoretic seed albumin patterns in
peas.
To date, 251 Pisum accessions have been screened for EP patterns as
previously described, using crude protein extracts with large propor-
tions of albumins (2). P. sativum was represented by 241 accessions.
Of the remaining ten accessions, two represented P. elatius, one
P. humile and seven P. abyssinicum. The lines we examined were obtained
from the collections at Weibullsholm (Sweden), Gatersleben (GDR) and
VIR-Leningrad (USSR).
In this material the following EP patterns were detected:
EP I - EP IV, patterns A, now designated as EP VI, and three "new" pat-
terns designated EP VII - EP IX. These patterns, together with
EP V reported previously for several P. fulvum forms, are presented in
Fig. 1A; the characteristic bands, a-f, are indicated.
Albumins of Pisum forms representing the EP VI - EP IX patterns
have now been fractionated by gel filtration on Sephadex and the peak
fractions have been analyzed electrophoretically as described earlier
for EP I - EP V (1) . As in the case of EP I - EP V, EP VII - EP IX
could be distinguished by the patterns produced by the 40,000 MW
fraction. In contrast, no peak corresponding to MW of about 40,0 00 was
observed in the gel filtration profile of albumins from the Pisum form
showing EP VI. Electrophoretic patterns produced by the Sephadex al-
bumin fractions with an MW about 40,000 are presented in Fig. 1B. It
