Brachypodium distachyon : Contribute to Modern Biological and Agronomical Researches As a Model Plant

A tiny wild grass Brachypodium distachyon is currently suitable for using as a model system because it possess biological, physical and genomic attributes which is small stature, small genome size, short lifetime, easy growth, large planting density, self-fertility, and huge germplasm. In particular, Brachypodium is closely related to grass crops which are important as a primary food and energy source for human being. Those attractive characteristics led to focus in Brachypodium world widely and various research groups have made rapid progress in developing genomic resources including the complete genome sequence, BAC libraries, genetic markers, physical maps, genetic maps, bioinformatic resources, and germplasm resources. Additionally, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method has been developed with high transformation efficiency, enabling study of functional genomics and T-DNA mutagenesis. This review summarizes the advantages of Brachypodium as a model system and surveys global trend of the use and potential applications for biological study and crop science.