Characterising Diversity in the Brassica Genomes

The genome sequence of an organism provides the basis for gene discovery, the analysis of genetic variation and the association of genomic variation with heritable traits. Genome sequence variation can vary from single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions/deletions to presence/absence of large regions or rearrangements. Second generation sequencing technologies and applied bioinformatics tools can provide an unprecedented insight into genome structure and variation, with applications for understanding the evolution of Brassica species and advancing crop breeding strategies.