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A fortunate choice: the history of Arabidopsis as a model plant

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 3, pages 883–889 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

During the past 20 years, the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana has been adopted as a model organism by thousands of biologists. This community has developed important tools, resources and experimental approaches that have greatly stimulated plant biological research. Here, we review some of the key events that led to the uptake of Arabidopsis as a model plant and to the growth of the Arabidopsis community.

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Figure 1: The number of articles published annually that describe research on Arabidopsis.
Figure 2: Arabidopsis thaliana.
Figure 3: Second meeting of the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative, July 1998.

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Acknowledgements

We thank G. Dilworth, M. Dilworth, M. Clutter, D. Meinke and E. Meyerowitz for providing images and information about events mentioned herein.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carnegie Institution, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Chris Somerville

  2. Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, Arboretumlaan 4, Wageningen, 6703 BD, The Netherlands

    Maarten Koornneef

Authors
  1. Chris Somerville
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  2. Maarten Koornneef
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Chris Somerville or Maarten Koornneef.

Related links

Related links

DATABASES

The <i>Arabidopsis</i> Information Resource

FAD3

FURTHER INFORMATION

Affymetrix's Arabidopsis ATH1 Genome Array

Chris Somerville's lab

GARNET

International Arabidopsis Symposium in Göttingen, Germany

Kazusa DNA Research Institute

Maarten Koornneef's lab

MIPS

SciSearch

Glossary

ACCESSION

A sample of a plant variety collected at a specific location and time.

AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS

A gram-negative soil bacterium that is used to transfer DNA into plant cells by a process similar to bacterial conjugation. The transferred DNA (T-DNA) randomly integrates into the plant genome to produce stably transformed plants.

ANTHOCYANIN

A flavonoid pigment. Anthocyanins are found in the cell vacuoles of plant organs and produce blue, red and purple colours in plants.

AUXIN

A plant hormone, also called indole-3-acetic acid, which is required for many aspects of plant development and for plant cell growth in culture.

AUXOTROPH

A mutant strain of a given organism that is unable to synthesize a molecule required for its growth. It, therefore, needs the molecule supplied in its growth medium to grow.

ECOTYPE

In the Arabidopsis literature, this term refers to a sample of a plant variety collected at a specific location and time.

FEULGEN MICROSPECTROPHOTOMETRY

A method for measuring cellular DNA content in which nuclei are stained with a DNA-specific dye and the amount of DNA per nucleus is measured by quantifying the absorbance of light by single nuclei in cytological preparations.

FORWARD GENETICS

A genetic analysis that proceeds from phenotype to genotype by positional cloning or candidate-gene analysis.

HOMEOTIC GENES

A class of genes that are crucial for controlling the early development and differentiation of embryonic tissues in eukaryotic organisms. The homeotic genes studied in Arabidopsis are frequently called organ identity genes.

PHYTOHORMONES

Plant growth and development is regulated by several small molecules, such as auxin, cytokinin, brassinosteroids, ethylene, jasmonic acid and abscisic acid.

VERNALIZATION

The induction of flowering by exposure of plants to a period of low temperature.

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Somerville, C., Koornneef, M. A fortunate choice: the history of Arabidopsis as a model plant. Nat Rev Genet 3, 883–889 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg927

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