Capsella rubella belongs to family Brassicaceae and is phylogenetically related to the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. Comparative mapping experiments by Acarkan et al indicate extensive genome colinearity at the genetic and molecular level between the genomes of C. rubella and A. thaliana.

C. rubella is a diploid species with n = 8 chromosomes. DOE Joint Genome Institute is planning to sequence the genome of C. rubella. Comparative analysis of the genomes of the two closely related species will be useful in understanding intra-species polymorphisms for A. thaliana.