Gregor Mendel’s iconic pea plant experiments laid the groundwork for modern genetics.
Now, 160 years later, an international team of researchers has combined genomics, bioinformatics, and genetics to map the diversity of a globally significant pea collection. Their work sheds new light on the traits Mendel studied and uncovers a vast reservoir of agriculturally valuable genetic variation.
According to the authors of a new study, the resulting gene bank and genomic tools could transform pea breeding and boost research into this environmentally important legume.
“Our collaboration has created a genomic resource of extraordinary depth and breadth, including the whole genome sequence data for pea,” said one of the co-corresponding authors Dr Noam Chayut, who manages the Germplasm Resource Unit (GRU) at the John Innes Centre.
“We already have researchers and multi-national companies ordering seeds corresponding to the novel genomic resources, which will revolutionise how companies breed peas, and how scientists study them, across the world.”
Published in the journal Nature, the research is the result of a collaborative effort between the John Innes Centre (JIC), the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and partner institutions across China, the UK, the U,S, and France.
This milestone study comes at a crucial time, as peas and other legumes gain attention for their potential as sustainable sources of plant-based protein. With the ability to fix their own nitrogen, these crops require less chemical fertiliser—offering a way to reduce agricultural runoff and lessen environmental impact, according to a press release.
“Mendel was not just interested in pea because it was a perfect model organism, although it was,” said Dr Chayut. “It was also an important crop that he wanted to improve by solving problems that were facing gardeners and growers at the time.
“Similarly, this study not only shines a light on Mendel’s fundamental discoveries, but it also opens the route to growing pea in many parts of the world, including the UK. Pea is a crop which can deliver a sustainable source of plant-based protein and has a major role to play in the future of farming.”
How did researchers unlock the genomes of a global pea collection?
Researchers selected approximately 700 representative pea accessions from a global collection of 3,500, curated over decades and maintained by the Germplasm Resources Unit (GRU) — a national resource supported by the BBSRC.
Their work produced a massive 62 terabytes of raw data, amounting to 25.6 trillion individual data points — equivalent to 3.6 billion sheets of A4 paper if printed.
With this wealth of information, the team built a global genomic map of the pea, covering a spectrum from highly bred cultivars to traditional landraces and wild relatives. Using this map and a method called Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS), researchers identified key genomic regions linked to more than 70 agronomic traits. These genetic markers offer powerful tools to speed up breeding efforts by pinpointing genes associated with valuable traits.
Looking ahead, this new genomic resource—combined with emerging technologies like gene editing, long-read DNA and RNA sequencing—promises to unlock novel genes and enable more predictive breeding strategies. For example, artificial intelligence models could soon identify optimal gene combinations for developing higher-yielding, disease-resistant, and agronomically robust pea varieties.
Revisiting Mendel’s Legacy
Gregor Mendel’s pioneering work on pea plants has been hailed by science historian Allan Franklin as “the best experiments ever done.” Long before the field of genetics emerged, Mendel meticulously studied seven traits — seed shape, seed color, pod shape, pod color, flower color, plant height, and flower position — laying the foundation for our understanding of heredity.
Now, the advanced genomic tools developed in this study are allowing researchers to revisit Mendel’s classic experiments with fresh insight. For instance, the team uncovered a rare, naturally occurring mutation that restores purple pigmentation to white flowers. They also identified a mutation behind the yellow pod trait — an intriguing find, as it results from the interaction of two neighboring genes.
Through this work, modern science continues to build on Mendel’s legacy, deepening our understanding of plant genetics and enhancing the future of sustainable agriculture.
Mendel discovered what we now call the laws of inheritance without knowing what a gene was,” said one of the lead authors of the study, Professor Shifeng Cheng of the CAAS Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen. “Today using modern tools, we can see the exact genes and the precise mutations that he unknowingly tracked.”
Mendel scholar Professor Noel Ellis, co-corresponding author of the study and researcher at the John Innes Centre, commented: “In addition to the practical utility of these accessions and associated data to breeders, the resources are of great value for academics and teachers of genetics because our study gives an up-to-date description of Mendel’s variants. The data is available, and the pea lines can be ordered — we hope that academics will access these resources freely.”
Dr. Julie Hofer, another co-first author on the paper and postdoc at the John Innes Centre, said: “For years, the genetic basis of pod color resisted explanation despite extensive research. Our discovery highlights the subtle ways that genomic structure can influence gene function at a transcriptional level.”
The study exemplifies the importance of collaboration in science, concluded Dr. Chayut: “We can achieve so much more when we work together.”
Read Editorial Director Marcel Bruins editorial on Mendel here.
The post A Legacy Unlocked: Mendel-Inspired Breakthrough That Could Transform Global Pea Farming appeared first on Seed World.