Weeding out the genes: the Arabidopsis genome project

The Arabidopsis genome sequence is scheduled for completion at the end of this year (December 2000). It will be the first higher plant genome to be sequenced, and will allow a detailed comparison with bacterial, yeast and animal genomes. Already, two of the five chromosomes have been sequenced, and we have had our first glimpse of higher eukaryotic centromeres, and the structure of heterochromatin. The implications for understanding plant gene function, genome structure and genome organization are profound. In this review, the lessons learned for future genome projects are reviewed as well as a summary of the initial findings in Arabidopsis.