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The Genetics of Capsella

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Genetics and Genomics of the Brassicaceae

Part of the book series: Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models ((PGG,volume 9))

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Abstract

The genus Capsella comprises three well-defined species, C. grandiflora, C. rubella and C. bursa-pastoris (the widely known Shepherd’s purse). Together with some intraspecific varieties, however, these species show remarkable differences in ploidy level, breeding systems, habitat range, and some morphological features such as leaf structure and floral architecture. Similar differences are also found in many other plant groups, thus understanding their genetic bases is of great interest for developmental and evolutionary biologists alike. Since Capsella is closely related to the major model plant Arabidopsis thaliana numerous molecular genetic tools are available for respective studies, and for one species (C. rubella) even sequencing of the whole genome is currently being pursued. Therefore, we currently see a renaissance of research interest in Capsella addressing some key issues of developmental and evolutionary biology such as speciation, adaptation, the developmental genetic basis of plant form, and whether evolution can proceed in a saltational way, that is generate profound changes within just a few or even only one generation of organisms. Some highlights of recent investigations are briefly presented.

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Abbreviations

A.:

Arabidopsis

C.:

Capsella

SC:

Self-compatibility

SCR:

S-locus cysteine-rich protein

SI:

Self-incompatibility

SRK:

S-locus receptor kinase

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Acknowledgements

I am indebted to Barbara Neuffer (Osnabrück), Renate Schmidt (Gatersleben) and Ian Bancroft (Norwich) for valuable comments that helped to improve the manuscript. Many thanks to Cristina Ferrándiz (Valencia) for a personal communication, and to Janine Ziermann (Jena) for the original photographs used in Fig. 13.1. Work on the Capsella bursa-pastoris Spe variety in the author’s laboratory has been funded by grants TH 417/4-1 and -2 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

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  1. Department of Genetics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, D-07743, Germany

    Günter Theißen

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  1. Günter Theißen
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Correspondence to Günter Theißen .

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  1. Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK), Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und, Corrensstr. 3, Gatersleben, 06466, Germany

    Renate Schmidt

  2. John Innes Institute, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom

    Ian Bancroft

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Theißen, G. (2011). The Genetics of Capsella . In: Schmidt, R., Bancroft, I. (eds) Genetics and Genomics of the Brassicaceae. Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models, vol 9. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7118-0_13

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