Genetic linkage can be explained by the Bateson, Saunders, and Punnett experiment which included observing the phenotypes and genotypes of plants.
In 1905, the British geneticists William Bateson, Edith Rebecca Saunders and Reginald Punnett cross-bred pea plants in experiments similar to Mendel's. Their experiment revealed linkage between the P and L alleles and the p and l alleles. The frequency of P occurring together with L and p occurring together with l is greater than that of the recombinant Pl and pL. This led to the conclusion that some traits are related to each other because of their near proximity to each other on a chromosome. Bateson, Saunders, and Punnett experiment Purple, long (P_L_) 284 Purple, round (P_ll) 21 Red, long (ppL_) 21 Red, round (ppll) 55 
