title: The development of Arabidopsis as a model plant.
abstract: Twenty-five years ago, Arabidopsis thaliana emerged as the model organism of choice for research in plant biology. A consensus was reached about the need to focus on a single organism to integrate the classical disciplines of plant science with the expanding fields of genetics and molecular biology. Ten years after publication of its genome sequence, Arabidopsis remains the standard reference plant for all of biology. We reflect here on the major advances and shared resources that led to the extraordinary growth of the Arabidopsis research community. We also underscore the importance of continuing to expand and refine our detailed knowledge of Arabidopsis while seeking to appreciate the remarkable diversity that characterizes the plant kingdom.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von Linné Weg 10, Cologne, Germany. koornnee@mpiz-koeln.mpg.de
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koornneef
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Meinke
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D014644:Genetic Variation; D018745:Genome, Plant; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D014170:Transformation, Genetic