Sequenced cabbage genome could boost other crops

An international research team—including the John Innes Centre and Rothamsted Research in the UK—has cracked the genome of a Chinese cabbage variety of a plant, Brassica rapa, which is a close relative of oilseed rape.

Brassica rapa belongs to a group of plants including broccoli, sprouts, turnip and cabbage, which account for over 10 per cent of the world’s vegetable and vegetable oil production.