New Vegetable Brassica Foods: A Promising Source of Bioactive Compounds

Brassica rapa is grown in northwestern Spain to obtain turnip greens. The tops of the same plants (flower stems with buds) are cut and sell as turnip tops, increasing the value of the crop. This practice could be extended to other brassicas. The objectives of this work are to study the phytochemical potential of tops of coles (Brassica oleracea) and leaf rape (Brassica napus) compared to turnip tops and to compare tops of different coles (cabbage, kale, tronchuda cabbage), which differ in their morphology and use. We evaluated the content of glucosinolates and phenolic compounds and the antioxidant capacity in leaves and tops of the three species. We found that tops had higher amount of glucosinolates than leaves. Phenolic content and antioxidant capacity followed the opposite trend. Therefore, consumption of leaves and tops are complementary, since both type of organs are enriched with different types of compound. Local varieties of kale, curly kale, cabbage and curly leave cabbage are interesting because of their GSLs and phenolic content and antioxidant capacity in both leaves and tops. From the human health perspective, tops of coles and leaf rape are interesting as new crops to include in the diet.

Phylogeny-dominant classification of J-proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica oleracea

Hsp40s or DnaJ/J-proteins are evolutionarily conserved in all organisms as co-chaperones of molecular chaperone HSP70s that mainly participate in maintaining cellular protein homeostasis, such as protein folding, assembly, stabilization, and translocation under normal conditions as well as refolding and degradation under environmental stresses. It has been reported that Arabidopsis J-proteins are classified into four classes (types A–D) according to domain organization, but their phylogenetic relationships are unknown. Here, we identified 129 J-proteins in the world-wide popular vegetable Brassica oleracea, a close relative of the model plant Arabidopsis, and also revised the information of Arabidopsis J-proteins based on the latest online bioresources. According to phylogenetic analysis with domain organization and gene structure as references, the J-proteins from Arabidopsis and B. oleracea were classified into 15 main clades (I–XV) separated by a number of undefined small branches with remote relationship. Based on the number of members, they respectively belong to multigene clades, oligo-gene clades, and mono-gene clades. The J-protein genes from different clades may function together or separately to constitute a complicated regulatory network. This study provides a constructive viewpoint for J-protein classification and an informative platform for further functional dissection and resistant genes discovery related to genetic improvement of crop plants.

Update on diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) insecticide resistance and the vegetable brassica insecticide management strategy

The susceptibility of field populations of diamondback moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella to lambdacyhalothrin methamidophos spinosad and indoxacarb collected from the four major brassicagrowing regions has been assessed approximately every 2 years from 1997 to 2008 Recent results indicate that populations from all regions have increased their resistance to lambdacyhalothrin but there is little or no resistance to spinosad and indoxacarb and reduced resistance to methamidophos This mitigation of resistance in DBM is attributed to in particular a decadelong regional adherence by the vegetable industry of rotating spinosad with indoxacarb in a twowindowsperyear rotation strategy The original insecticide resistance management rotation strategy had to be updated to incorporate chlorantraniliprole registered as a foliar spray and recently a mixture of chlorantraniliprole and thiamethoxam as a seedling drench Seedling drenches have been removed from the twowindow strategy used for foliar sprays with drenches now aligned with periods targeting the highest pest pressure allowing mode of action (MoA)free periods and rotation of different MoA insecticides to mitigate any resistance buildup in DBM