Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Though it doesn’t have agricultural value itself, it has become the model organism for plant biology, much like fruit fly and yeast is for genetics or mice for mammalian biology.

Why is it so useful (why it is a model plant)?

• Small and simple: It has a short life cycle (about 6 weeks from seed to seed), grows quickly, and needs little space.

• Genetics-friendly: Its diploid genome is very small for a plant (about 135 million base pairs, compared to billions in crops, like wheat) and was the first plant genome fully sequenced.

• Research tools: Arabidopsis is easy to genetically mutated, transformed with new DNA, and crossbreed, which makes it excellent for genetic studies.

• Relevance: Discoveries in Arabidopsis often apply to crops, helping us understand plant growth, development, stress responses, and disease resistance.

In short, Arabidopsis thaliana is the “lab mouse of the plant world,” providing a powerful system to uncover fundamental principles of plant biology.