Clearing a path through the jungle: progress in Arabidopsis genomics

Progress in sequencing the genome of the model plant Arabidopsis is reviewe d. The resulting analysis of the sequence indicates an information-rich gen ome that is being tackled by a variety of high-throughput approaches aimed at understanding the functions of plant genes. The information derived from these systematic studies is providing important new knowledge of biologica l processes found uniquely in plants for comparison with that obtained in o ther multicellular organisms. BioEssays 1999;21:110-120. (C) 1999 John Wile y & Sons, Inc.