THE gene responsible for the tall peas grown by Gregor Mendel, who laid
the foundations of modern genetics in the 19th century, has been isolated by
researchers in Australia. This is the second of the seven pea traits he studied
for which a gene has been isolated.
James Reid and his colleagues at the University of Tasmania in Hobart will
report in the August issue of The Plant Cell that the tallness gene
codes for an enzyme involved in the manufacture of the growth hormone
gibberellin. Pea plants with a single nucleotide mutation in the gene produce a
sluggish form of the enzyme and consequently grow short.
Most commercial varieties of pea contain the short version of the gene. 鈥淲e
now know how this crop is dwarfed at the molecular level,鈥� says Reid.
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