Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana, the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small plant from the mustard family (<a href="/facts/Brassicaceae/xMjNIBzU">Brassicaceae</a>), native to Eurasia and Africa. Commonly found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land, it is generally considered a weed.
A <a href="/facts/Winter_annual/SkPv72DA">winter annual</a> with a relatively short lifecycle, A. thaliana is a popular <a href="/facts/Model_organism/vNv6q4yb">model organism</a> in <a href="/facts/Plant_biology/PaIRoxnb">plant biology</a> and genetics. For a complex multicellular <a href="/facts/Eukaryote/SkwyPLMA">eukaryote</a>, A. thaliana has a relatively small <a href="/facts/Genome/31Sm08JT">genome</a> of around 135 <a href="/facts/Base_pair/xmPpPQ9W">megabase pairs</a>. It was the first plant to have its genome sequenced, and is an important tool for understanding the <a href="/facts/Molecular_biology/YgqU35ub">molecular biology</a> of many plant traits, including flower development and <a href="/facts/Phototropism/9InRzq65">light sensing</a>.

Arabidopsis thaliana open-in-new

Arabidopsis thaliana