150多年前, 孟德尔进行了豌豆7对相对性状的杂交试验, 发现了遗传学的两个基本规律。1900年, 孟德尔定律被重新发现以后, 人们从生理生化、细胞和分子水平等不同层次上对豌豆的这7个性状进行了深入研究。近年, 随着分子生物学技术的发展, 已有种子形状(R)、茎的长度(Le)、子叶颜色(I)和花的颜色(A)等4个性状的基因被克隆; 未成熟豆荚的颜色(Gp)、花的着生位置(Fa)和豆荚形状(V)的基因已被定位在各自的连锁群上。4个孟德尔基因的鉴定和克隆加深了人们对基因概念的理解：如基因功能的多样性、在分子水平上基因变异原因的多样性、显性和隐性的分子实质等。在遗传学教学中, 把孟德尔基因克隆和研究的最新进展介绍给学生, 在分子水平上诠释经典遗传规律, 有助于提高学生的学习兴趣, 帮助学生全面把握从形式遗传学到分子遗传学的内容和遗传学的发展方向。
One hundred and fifty years ago, Gregor Mendel investigated the segregation of seven traits in pea (Pisum sativum) and established the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment in genetics. After the two laws of genetics were rediscovered in 1900, the seven traits have been extensively investigated in the fields of plant physiology and biochemistry as well as in the cell and molecular levels. Recently, with the development of molecular technology in genetics, four genes for seed shape (R), stem length (Le), cotyledon colour (I), and flower colour (A) have been cloned and sequenced; and another three genes for immature pod colour (Gp), fasciation (Fa) and pod form (V) have been located in the linkage groups, respectively. The identification and cloning of the four Mendel’s genes will help deeply understand the basic concept of gene in many respects: like the diversity of gene function, the different origins for gene mutation in molecular level, and the molecular nature of a dominant gene or a recessive gene. In teaching of genetics, the introduction of most recent research advancements of cloning of Mendel’s genes to the students and the interpretation of the Mendel’s laws in molecular level will help students promote their learning interests in genetics and help students grasp the whole content from classical genetics to molecular genetics and the developmental direction of this subject.
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