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Annexins are a multigene family in most plant species and are suggested to play a role in a wide variety of essential cellular processes. They are well characterized in Arabidopsis; however, no such characterization of turnip annexin gene family has been reported thus far. So, four cDNAs of turnip, Brassica rapa (BrANNEXIN1, BrANNEXIN2, BrANNEXIN3, BrANNEXIN4), encoding annexin proteins using a RT-PCR/RACE-PCR-based strategy were isolated and characterized. The predicted molecular masses of these annexins are ∼36.0 kDa. At the amino acid level, they share high sequence similarity with each other and with annexins from higher plants. Using quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR to assess their differential expression in different tissues or after different stimuli, we found that these BrANNEXIN genes are differentially expressed in various tissues. The expression patterns of four annexin genes during germination in normal and dark-grown seedlings were determined. Our results indicate that transcripts for all four annexins are present in dark germinating seedlings, and BrANNEXIN1, BrANNEXIN3, and BrANNEXIN4 are present in normal germinating seedlings. Only BrANNEXIN4 was involved in UV-A-induced anthocyanin synthesis in the root epidermis of Tsuda turnip, which accumulates high levels of anthocyanin. All four annexins differently expressed in the UV-A light-induced anthocyanin synthesis in the hypocotyl. When 4.0-day-old etiolated seedlings were treated with red or far-red light, transcript levels of the four annexins in hypocotyls and cotyledons significantly increased. Finally, we monitored annexin expression in response to various abiotic stresses. Expression of these genes also changed in response to abiotic stresses such as high and low temperatures, dehydration, and osmotic and salt stresses. These results indicate that BrANNEXIN genes may play important roles in adaptation of plants to various environmental stresses.