Pachycladon.

The genus Pachycladon belongs to the Brassicaceae family and is comprised of species endemic to the South Pacific, specifically the South Island of New Zealand and Tasmania. The species in this genus are the product of a Pleistocene intertribal allopolyploidization event followed by rapid adaptive radiation and have been the focus of intense phylogenetic, phylogeographic, molecular ecological, and genetic work. Pachycladon is closely related to the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and molecular tools developed for the latter have been successfully used to advance genetic studies of Pachycladon. A growing volume of molecular resources and protocols are being developed for Pachycladon, currently the subject of QTL mapping, transcriptome analysis through microarray studies and high-throughput short-read sequencing, genetic transformation, and interspecific and intergeneric hybridization studies. Pachycladon is emerging as a useful model genus to help elucidate the genetic basis of traits that are of interest across the Brassicaceae, most notably those involved in plant speciation, adaptive radiation, and evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]