An international team of scientists from China, Australia, USA, Canada,
South Korea, France, and the UK has released a report that provides new
insights into the establishment of the genome sequence of the main
horticultural Brassica species. The findings will support further research
about this important crop species which includes cabbage, cauliflower,
broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and is a close relative of oilseed rape.

Professor Ian Bancroft from UK's York University, said: "This resource will
be of tremendous benefit for research programs around the world, both those
focusing on the fundamental biology of Brassica species and those aiming to
bring about predictive genetic improvement of familiar brassica vegetables,
such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage." His team helped analyze data in
the research and also improved the quality and utility of the genome
sequence by relating it to genetic linkage maps.

[www.york.ac.uk] and [www.nature.com]