ABSTRACT
The dry matter of pea plant organs usually contains about 40 % of carbon (C) and between 0.4 and 7 % of nitrogen (N). Nitrogen is more concentrated in shoots than in below-ground parts such as roots and nodules; of the shoot organs, the N content of the apices is generally the highest, while that of young leaves or fruits is higher than that of mature leaves, itself higher than the stem N concentration. The partitioning among plant parts of the N and C that has been acquired by the plants from the environment depends upon plant architecture, plant vascular system, biochemical mechanisms involved in the transfer and metabolism of compounds and on interactions between the plant and the environment.
