ABSTRACT
The Family Brassicaceae contains over 3,700 species in 338 genera, each characterized by a range of developmental adaptations and containing
School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; e-mail: a.hayward@uq.edu.au
signifi cant genetic diversity (Demeke et al. 1992; Jain et al. 1994; Das et al. 1999, 2007; Hasan et al. 2006; King 2007; Warwick et al. 2009). The genus Brassica comprises the most diverse collection of agriculturally important species within a single genus (Dixon 2007; Warwick et al. 2009). Domesticated by man over a vast spatio-temporal scale, records of Brassica crops date back thousands of years across Europe, India and China (Dixon 2007; Snowdon et al. 2007). In India, Brassicas are thought to have been cultivated as early as 4000-1500 BC (Prakash 1980; Kimber and McGregor 1995). Similarly, in China, evidence suggests use from 1122 BC, and in Europe Brassica species were cultivated for oil during the middle-ages (Li 1980; Kimber and McGregor 1995; Snowdon 2007).
