Abstract
The cultivated Brassica species are grown in many countries. They include oil crops and vegetables. Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) contains the A genome (2n=20). Although the physiology and developmental biology of Arabidopsis and Brassica are very similar, the A genomes of Brassica are 4 to 5 times larger than that of Arabidopsis thaliana. To identify biotic and abiotic stress-inducible genes in B. rapa, we prepared cDNA libraries (EST and full-length cDNA). We have isolated and functionally annotated ca. 2,000 ESTs using Arabidopsis genome information. We have initiated transcriptional monitoring of stress-inducible genes in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this report, we will present the analysis of transcriptional expression profiles of ca. 2,000 B. rapa cDNAs in response to a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses. We also discuss the similarity and difference of stress-inducible genes between B. rapa and A. thaliana.
