Brassica
Brassica speciesinclude of many extensively researched crops, characterised by a wide range of adaptations. They include oilseed rape/canola and swede (B. napus); cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprout (B. oleracea); chinese cabbage, pak choi, turnip and oil (B. rapa); and mustards (B. nigra, B. juncea, B. carinata) and have many commercial and industrial applications. Brassicas play an important role in global horticulture and agriculture. Brassica species also share extensive synteny with the fully sequenced model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. This close relationship can assist characterisation of the Brassica genome through comparative mapping and exploitation of the wealth of information available for Arabidopsis
There is a wide range of genetic and genomic data available within the public domain relating to Brassica species. These include reference linkage maps, a wide range of QTL relevant to basic processes, phenotypic data and sequence-based information. In addition, there is an increasing availability of comparative information, with extensive genetic and physical sequence maps with common markers available to assist in extrapolating information from Arabidopsis to Brassica. Further Brassica genome information is emerging as the Brassica rapa genome sequencing project progresses.