Section KSD/1 - Pisum Research

Extent: 1 box

Notebooks and loose research papers on Pisum research and neoplastic pods, by Kenneth S Dodds and Peter Matthews.

Admin History: Kenneth Dodds was appointed in Director of John Innes in March 1954. Lecturer then Professor of Botany and Genetics at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad (1937-49); Officer-in-Charge of the Commonwealth Potato Station at the School of Agriculture, University of Cambridge (1949-51) and Director of the Agricultural Research Council’s Potato Genetics Station at Cambridge (following the transfer of the Potato Collection to the ARC). Peter Matthews: pathologist, geneticist, JI 1947, 1952-1988. Scientists, including Dodds, Peter Matthews and Brian Snoad, observed how some of the pea pods from their new collection developed pustular-like growths on the outside of the pod. These growths -referred to as ‘neoplasms’ - are due to abnormal and uncontrolled cell division, which can develop to form a tumour. The JI scientists focused their attention on determining the cytology of neoplastic growth, as well as the potential triggers of this phenomenon. The amount of neoplastic growth on pods was found to vary depending on environment; low expression was observed when the pea plants were grown in a field rather than a glasshouse. This led the JI scientists to believe that types of light may affect neoplastic pod growth, since glasshouses filter out ultraviolet (UV) light. Consequently, the JI scientists began investigating the effect of different light wavelengths. With the assistance of fluorescent lamps and high pressure mercury vapour lamps, they established that UV light can inhibit neoplastic growth on pea pods. Alternatively, when UV light was absent, neoplasms were more abundant. When grown in the right environment, the pustules could be so numerous that they would combine to cover the entire pea pod. Snoad and Matthews conducted further research to determine where on the pod the neoplastic growths develop. Using microscopic examination, they became the first to accurately locate and describe the anatomy of the cells within the active region, and to recognise the earliest signs of tumour development and the growth mechanisms involved. https://www.jic.ac.uk/pea-homepage/neoplastic-pea-pods/#