Due to its small diploid genome(490Mb),short growing cycle and small morphological stature,foxtail millet(Setaria italica)and its wild ancestor green foxtail(S.viridis)is on the fast track becoming a model system for the Panicoideae grasses,which include maize,sorghum,pearl millet and other important cereals and biofuel grasses.Foxtail millet is also widely recognized as a model to decipher the molecular biology of C4 photosynthesis.