How scientists cracked the mystery of Mendel’s pea flower colour

Identification of Mendel's white flower character. Hellens RP, Moreau C, Lin-Wang K, Schwinn KE, Thomson SJ, Fiers MW, Frew TJ, Murray SR, Hofer JM, Jacobs JM, Davies KM, Allan AC, Bendahmane A, Coyne CJ, Timmerman-Vaughan GM, Ellis TH. PLoS One. 2010 Oct 11;5(10):e13230. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013230.
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What is the identity of the famous A gene - the flower colour gene in pea plants - described by Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics? Which mutation is responsible for changing the pea plant flower colour from purple to white, and how? Find the answers in this review of: Identification of Mendel’s White Flower Character.
Gregor Mendel’s ‘Experiments in Plant Hybridization’ were a ground-breaking series of experiments that discovered the principles of inheritance we still learn about today, from high school biology to university genetics. Mendel’s conclusions contradicted conventional wisdom of the time that parental traits were blended in progeny by highlighting that genes (‘factors’ in Mendel’s words) existed in pairs and were inherited independently from each parent as a dominant or recessive trait. The problem was that Mendel’s work was too far ahead of his time, meaning it wasn’t acknowledged until 1900, 34 years after his study was published in 1866 and 16 years after his death in 1884. Mendel measured seven traits by crossing the pure lines of plants and recording their traits, one of which - pea flower colour Mendel designated using Aa - is investigated in this video. The identity of the ‘A’ gene and the mutation responsible for white flower colour remained a mystery until 2010.
This video investigates how scientists from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and France used the complete genome from the closely related plant Medicago truncatula (a legume) to investigate the identity of the famous ‘A’ gene named after Mendel’s ‘A’ factor. They also compared the ‘A’ gene of purple and white flowered pea lines through amplification of DNA to discover the mutation responsible for white flower colour, and used gene guns to bolster the evidence for the identity of the A gene.
If Mendel was alive today, it is certain he would have finally felt appreciated.
Creator: William Lumb
References:
European Commission. Scientists solve Mendel's pea flower colour mystery: European Commission CORDIS; 2010 Oct 28 cordis.europa....
Grotewold E. The genetics and biochemistry of floral pigments. Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2006;56:761-780.
Hellens RP, Moreau C, Lin-Wang K, Schwinn KE, Thomson SJ, Fiers MW, Frew TJ, Murray SR, Hofer JM, Jacobs JM, Davies KM, Allan AC, Bendahmane A, Coyne CJ, Timmerman-Vaughan GM, Ellis TH. Identification of Mendel's white flower character. PLoS ONE, 2010;5(10):e13230.
Juul, T. H. Pisum sativum proliferating cell nuclear antigen gene-controlling element binding factor (PEAPCF1) mRNA, partial cds: National Center for Biotechnology Information: 2009 Nov 4 www.ncbi.nlm.n...
Kreplak J, Madoui MA, Capal P, Novak P, Labadie K, Aubert G, Bayer PE, Gali KK, Syme RA, Main D et al. A reference genome for pea provides insight into legume genome evolution. Nature Genet. 2019;51:1411-1422.
Leos Janacek. The Augustinian Abbey of St Thomas in Old Brno: Leos Janacek; n.d. www.leosjanace...
Mendel, G. Versuche uber Plflanzenhybriden. Verhandlungen des naturforschenden Vereines in Brünn, 1866:3-47.
Rameau C, Denoue D, Fraval F, Haurogne K, Josserand J, Laucou V, Batge S, Murfet IC. Genetic mapping in pea. 1. RAPD-based genetic linkage map of Pisum sativum. Theor Appl Genet. 1998;97:916-928.