Genome analysis

Cruciferous crops are now cultivated throughout the world beyond their natural centers of diversity. The close evolutionary relationship of Arabidopsis has underpinned genome analysis and our current understanding of genome organisation and evolution within the Brassicaceae. Translating this reference information into crop species such as Brassica, of more recent polyploid origin and containing multiple paralogous and homoeologous gene copies, remains a challenge. Brassica experimental resources have enabled analysis of whole genome sequence data in combination with cytological approaches. This has revealed a series of large and small-scale duplication events driving a pattern of recursive paleopolyploidization, with genome triplication elegantly demonstrated in the B. rapa genome sequence. Progressive resolution and integration of genetic, physical and sequence maps underpins assignment of functional genes and regulatory networks to agronomic traits. High throughput sequencing now enables transcriptome mapping, associative transcriptomics and advanced eQTL analysis. Prospects for the future of genome analysis in cruciferous crops are considered. It is now possible to explore the role of epigenetic variation in modulating gene function and plasticity associated with phenotpic response to the environment.