Comparative Genomics of Brassicales Plastomes

Plastids are organelles derived from free-living cyanobacteria, carrying out one of the most important biological processes, photosynthesis. Majority of the original plastid genes (estimated 2,000+) have been transferred to the nuclear genome over the past one billion years. In addition, the organization and gene content (~80-84 total) of plastid genomes (plastomes) are largely conserved across most plant species. We compared gene content and structure of the plastid genome across the majority of families in the order Brassicales using whole genome sequencing and comparative genomics methods. The results from these analyses will be presented.