基因组学解锁钥匙孟德尔的豌豆花

约翰英纳斯中心的科学家们发现了关键生物学最著名的实验之一——基因控制豌豆花的颜色,用孟德尔在他继承的初步研究。150年前孟德尔豌豆种植隔离的花的颜色。现在一个国际科学家小组,发表在《plos one》杂志上透露这背后的潜在分子遗传学实验,确定基因控制在豌豆植物花的颜色。豌豆已经用于研究遗传和基因数百年来,从十八世纪调查继承,通过孟德尔的著名实验,发展提高豌豆品种。“孟德尔被称为现代遗传学之父,用豌豆特征证明遗传模式,”罗杰·海伦博士说,基因组学的科学领袖组植物与食品研究,新西兰。野生型豌豆花的紫色的颜色,许多其他植物和鲜花,是积累的结果称为花青素的色素分子和生物化学的生产研究了多年。本文描述了两种豌豆基因,称为A2,调节生产花青素。工作是一个约翰英纳斯中心的科学家之间的合作,不明白的一个研究所,新西兰的植物与食品研究,URGV在法国和美国农业部的农业研究服务。“这是一个真正的合作,它将不会发生没有所有这些人参与,尤其是罗杰没有热情钉一个多年来一直缠着他的问题,“诺艾利斯教授说,作物遗传学部门的约翰英纳斯中心。“通过比较豌豆DNA序列其他特征明显的植物,如佩妮,我们已经确定,孟德尔的基因是一个转录因子,控制花青素生物合成途径。 This transcription factor, when mutated, becomes inactive and anthocyanin is not produced, resulting in white flowers," says Dr Hellens. The John Innes Centre houses a collection of around 3,500 pea lines that was used in this study. The collection includes material from wild, cultivated and semi-cultivated sources, some dating back to the nineteenth century. This germplasm collection is a valuable genetic resource for scientists and plant breeders looking for improved pea varieties. "We used information from our previous genotyping of the JIC pea germplasm collection to identify exotic lines where we would most likely find rare alleles of Mendel's gene. Finding a rare second allele was important for independent confirmation of the identity of the gene," says Prof. Ellis. "This is the fourth of Mendel's seven genes to be characterised at the molecular level: it is also the second where JIC has been involved." The John Innes Centre is now looking into the germplasm collection for genes and traits that could be used to make peas higher-yielding or of better quality. Peas are able to fix nitrogen from the air through symbiotic relationships with bacteria housed in nodules in their roots. This makes them less dependent on the addition of nitrogenous fertilisers which are a major economic and environmental cost associated with farming because they require high levels of energy for their production and their use is a major source of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. The increased production of peas and other legumes is a good way of ensuring future food security with low environmental cost. Funding was received from Defra and the EU FP6 Grain Legumes Integrated Project, the New Zealand Foundation for Research Science and Technology and BBSRC. ENDS Notes to editors Reference: "Identification of Mendel's white flower character" will be published in PLoS ONE on Monday, October 11 2010. http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013230