Arabidopsis: Model organism in Biology

Arabidopsis thaliana is a small, annual rosette plant. It belongs to the family of the Brassicaceae in the eudicotyledonous group of angiosperm vascular plants. This family also includes related oilseed crops, vegetables and spice plants–rapeseed, brussel sprouts, various cabbages, cauliflower, garden radish, and mustard.

From: eLife 2015;4:e06100, “The Natural History of Model Organisms: Planting molecular functions in an ecological context with Arabidopsis thaliana“, Ute Krämer.

Quick bibliography: Articles–classic and recent–about Arabidopsis thaliana and Plant Biology.

**updated January 2025**

*Woodward, A. W., & Bartel, B. (2018). Biology in bloom: A primer on the arabidopsis thaliana model system. Genetics, 208(4), 1337-1349.

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*Müller, B., & Grossniklaus, U. (2010). Model organisms–A historical perspective. Journal of Proteomics, 73(11), 2054-2063.

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*Jacob, P., Hirt, H., & Bendahmane, A. (2017). The heat-shock protein/chaperone network and multiple stress resistance. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 15(4), 405-414.

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*Loladze, I., Nolan, J. M., Ziska, L. H., & Knobbe, A. R. (2019). Rising atmospheric CO2 lowers concentrations of plant carotenoids essential to human health: A Meta‐Analysis. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 63(15).

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*Müller, D. B., Vogel, C., Bai, Y., & Vorholt, J. A. (2016). The plant microbiota: Systems-level insights and perspectives. Annual Review of Genetics, 50, 211-234.

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*Quint, M., Delker, C., Franklin, K. A., Wigge, P. A., Halliday, K. J., & van Zanten, M. (2016). Molecular and genetic control of plant thermomorphogenesis. Nature Plants, 2, 15190.

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*Sanchez, S. E., & Kay, S. A. (2016). The plant circadian clock: From a simple timekeeper to a complex developmental manager. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 8(12).

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To find additional information, search arabidopsis in the —

Science Primary Literature database

Questions? Please let me know —

engelk@grinnell.edu