Arabidopsis Thaliana
Arabidopsis Thaliana
Understanding how biological processes have come about is of a great importance to scienticists. In terms of exploring the concept of biological phenomena, scientists have specifically relied on model organisms to obtain the answers they require. Model organisms are non-human species that are studied in great detail to provide useful knowledge on biological phenomena, which can further be more generalised to more complex organisms that are difficult to study directly (Encyclopedia of Life, 2017). One of the most widely used model organism is the Arabidopsis Thaliana (A.thaliana) plant. A.thaliana is a small flowering plant that is commonly native to Eurasia (Alonso-Blanco et al. 2011). More specifically A.thaliana are …show more content…
Some of these characteristics include: it’s small size, rapid lifecycle, small genome, prolific seed production, extensive genetic and physical map of all five chromosomes, large number of mutant lines and basic simaralities to other crops (Koornneef & Meinke, 2010). All these features have played a role in highlighting A.thaliana’s potential. The three characteristics that will be further discussed are: size, rapid lifecycle and small …show more content…
It is the simplest genomee of any plant and was the first to be sequenced successfully by the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative in 2000 (Leonelli, 2007). Since A.thaliana has a small and simple genome, reseachers can distinguish the genes involved in plant functions such as: photosynthesis, defence, growth, metabolism, cell wall development and more. Also foreign genes can be inserted into the Arabidopsis genome using Agrobacterium Tumefaciens which are gram-negative bacterias that transfers DNA into plant genomes (Koornneef & Meinke, 2010). A smaller genome is beneficial for detailed molecular genetic analysis. Sequencing the genome assists with gaining knowledge of gene functions and applying the data obtained to other organisms (Koornneef & Meinke,
Understanding how biological processes have come about is of a great importance to scienticists. In terms of exploring the concept of biological phenomena, scientists have specifically relied on model organisms to obtain the answers they require. Model organisms are non-human species that are studied in great detail to provide useful knowledge on biological phenomena, which can further be more generalised to more complex organisms that are difficult to study directly (Encyclopedia of Life, 2017). One of the most widely used model organism is the Arabidopsis Thaliana (A.thaliana) plant. A.thaliana is a small flowering plant that is commonly native to Eurasia (Alonso-Blanco et al. 2011). More specifically A.thaliana are …show more content…
Some of these characteristics include: it’s small size, rapid lifecycle, small genome, prolific seed production, extensive genetic and physical map of all five chromosomes, large number of mutant lines and basic simaralities to other crops (Koornneef & Meinke, 2010). All these features have played a role in highlighting A.thaliana’s potential. The three characteristics that will be further discussed are: size, rapid lifecycle and small …show more content…
It is the simplest genomee of any plant and was the first to be sequenced successfully by the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative in 2000 (Leonelli, 2007). Since A.thaliana has a small and simple genome, reseachers can distinguish the genes involved in plant functions such as: photosynthesis, defence, growth, metabolism, cell wall development and more. Also foreign genes can be inserted into the Arabidopsis genome using Agrobacterium Tumefaciens which are gram-negative bacterias that transfers DNA into plant genomes (Koornneef & Meinke, 2010). A smaller genome is beneficial for detailed molecular genetic analysis. Sequencing the genome assists with gaining knowledge of gene functions and applying the data obtained to other organisms (Koornneef & Meinke,