Arabidopsis thaliana

Image Credit:

JC Schou on Biopix

Scientific name: Arabidopsis thaliana

Common name(s): Mouse ear cress

Name as shown in Phylogenes: A. thaliana

Ploidy: Diploid

Description: 

Arabidopsis thaliana, also known as mouse-ear cress, is a small annual plant that is a member of the mustard family. It has no agricultural value, but has significant utility as a model plant species due to its small genome size, rapid life cycle and ease of use as an experimental system.

Arabidopsis has the most well annotated plant genome and is extensively used as reference for understanding gene function in other plant species.

Reference(s): 

1. Arabidopsis Genome Initiative. Analysis of the genome sequence of the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature. 2000 Dec 14;408(6814):796-815.

Genome Databases:

The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR)

Araport

BAR ePlant