Recently, a research team led by Dr. Wang Xiaowu of Institute of Vegetables and Flowers of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IVF-CAAS) reconsturcteded the common ancestral genome of Brassica and closely related species. The paper Deciphering the Diploid Ancestral Genome of the Mesohexaploid Brassica rapa, was published online on The Plant Cell on May 7th 2013.


This work was the follow-up research of the complement of whole-genome sequencing of B. rapa, which was also co-ordinated by Dr. Wang. The research team has made use of the availability of full B. rapa genome to reconstruct the ancestral genome of the Brassica genus. The work showed n=7 karyotype (tPCK) was likely the ancestral genome not just for B. rapa and the Brassicae tribe, but also for the recently sequenced genome of Schrenkiella and Thellungiella, which are represents of the other tribes. This work answered the long-standing questions like those surrounding chromosome number and genome structure of Brassica ancensters. By establishing the n=7 tPCK genome as the ancestral genome of Brassiceae tribe, it provides a reference for future analyses of the agronomically and scientifically important Brassiceae.