arabidopsis

noun

Meaning

A genus of small flowering plants in the mustard family, widely used in biological research due to its short life cycle and simple genome.

Examples

  • The laboratory team spent months analyzing the genetic mutations found in their arabidopsis specimens.
  • Because arabidopsis has a very small genome, it was the first plant to have its entire DNA sequence mapped.

Synonyms: weed, cress, model organism, thale cress