Chinese and other global scientists jointly solve genetics mystery of Mendel's peas

Mendel's work led to the discovery of genetic inheritance and the laws of segregation and independent assortment. While most of the genes behind his seven trait pairs — such as round vs wrinkled seeds and tall vs short plants — had been found in recent decades, three remained unidentified until now.

A key part of the project involved building a broad and genetically diverse panel of pea accessions. Chayut, head of the germplasm resources group at the John Innes Centre, worked with Ellis, a long-time pea genetics expert, to select more than 700 samples from the institute's Pisum collection.

"To find rare variants, a broad and representative sampling was essential," said Chayut.