Allelic variation at a single locus distinguishes spring and winter faba beans
A multinational research team including Professor Tae-Jin Yang’s group at Seoul National University (Director of the Green Bio Science & Technology Institute and head of the BK21 Creative Leader Program for Agricultural and Forestry Bio-resources) and Dr. Soon-Jae Kwon’s team at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has discovered that the winter survival of faba bean is determined by a single genomic locus. In other words, the difference between winter-type and spring-type faba beans is controlled by a single genetic variation in the genome.
This finding is considered a key breakthrough that could significantly accelerate the breeding of winter-hardy faba bean varieties. The study will be published on March 10 in the internationally renowned journal Nature Genetics. (10 March 2026).
