Annals of Botany 138: 703-705.
Abstract
The Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) has long served as one of the pre-eminent model families for flowering plants, a status reinforced by the landmark sequencing of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome almost 30 years ago (Arabidopsis Genome Initiative, 2000). This special issue of Annals of Botany, entitled ‘Advances in Crucifer Research in the -Omics Era’, grew out of the vibrant discussions held during the 2024 International Botanical Congress in Madrid. It highlights a renaissance in crucifer research, in which traditional systematics and phylogenetics are being transformed by high-throughput omics approaches, providing large datasets and subjecting them to more rigorous analyses than was done previously. These advances now allow researchers to move beyond a single model species and view the entire family as a comparative genomic laboratory, opening opportunities for previously unthinkable comparative studies, bridging disciplines and reaffirming the Brassicaceae as one of the most important model families of flowering plants.