Gene Flow from Transgenic Chinese Cabbage (Brassica campestris ssp. chinensis var.utilis) to Related Cruciferae Species Through Outcrossing

It was substantiated by morphological observation, chromosome and DNA identification that the bar gene, conferring the resistance to herbicide basta in transgenic Chinese cabbage ( Brassica campestris ssp. chinensis var. utilis Tsen et Lee), could intrude into the genomes of turnip ( B. campestris ssp. rapifera), heading Chinese cabbage B. campestris ssp. pekinensis) and other non-heading Chinese cabbage ( B. campestris ssp. chinensis in a relatively high frequency while into genome of B. napus at a low frequency via natural cross-pollination in open field. Herbicide resistant hybrids of B. nigra, B. carinata, and B. juncea could be obtained at certain frequency in the greenhouse by hand pollination. At no time did the resistant hybrid plants of transgenic Chinese cabbage with B. oleracea, R. sativus and seven wild weeds, widespread in China, gained in our experiments.

Effects of different rotation patterns on the occurrence of clubroot disease and diversity of rhizosphere microbes

Clubroot disease, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, is one of the most destructive soil-borne diseases in cruciferous crops worldwide. New strategies are urgently needed to control this disease, as no effective disease-resistant varieties or chemical control agents exist. Previously, we found that the incidence rate and disease index of clubroot in oilseed rape decreased by 50 and 40%, respectively, when oilseed rape was planted after soybean. In order to understand how different rotation patterns affect the occurrence of clubroot in oilseed rape, high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the rhizosphere microbial community of oilseed rape planted after leguminous (soybean, clover), gramineous (rice, maize) and cruciferous (oilseed rape, Chinese cabbage) crops. Results showed that planting soybeans before oilseed rape significantly increased the population density of microbes that could inhibit P. brassicae (e.g., Sphingomonas, Bacillus, Streptomyces and Trichoderma). Conversely, consecutive cultivation of cruciferous crops significantly accumulated plant pathogens, including P. brassicae, Olpidium and Colletotrichum (P<0.05). These results will help to develop the most effective rotation pattern for reducing clubroot damage.

Notes on the family Brassicaceae in China

A critical revision of the collections of Brassicaceae in some Chinese （PE, XJA, XJBI, XJFA, XJNM, XJU） and foreign （LE, P） herbaria is made. One genus, Neurotropis （DC.） E K. Mey., and 11 species, Alyssum szarabiacum Nyar., Barbarea stricta Andrz., Erysimum czernjajevii N. Busch, Erysimum kotuchovii D. German, Erysimum mongolicum D. German, Lepidium karelinianum Al-Shehbaz, Matthiola superba Conti, Neurotropis platycarpa （Fisch. ＆ Mey.） E K. Mey., Ptilotrichum dahuricum Peschkova, Sisymbrium subspinescens Bunge, and Smelowskia micrantha （Botsch. ＆ Vved.） Al-Shehbaz ＆ S. I. Warwick, are reported from China for the first time. Six species, Aphragmus involucratus （Bunge） O. E. Schulz, Dontostemonperennis C. A. Mey., Goldbachia torulosa DC., Lepidium amplexicaule Willd., Neotorularia brevipes （Kar. ＆ Kir.） Hedge ＆ J. Leonard, and Parrya stenocarpa Kar. ＆ Kir., are confirmed to occurr in China. Five species, Dontostemon integrifolius （L.） C. A. Mey., Draba zangbeiensis L. L. Lou, Lepidium alashanicum H. L. Yang, Sinapis arvensis L., and Strigosella brevipes （Bunge） Botsch., are reported as novelties for some provinces in China, and Strigosella hispida （Litv.） Botsch. occurs in Xinjiang, China. However, the occurrence of one genus, Pseudoarabidopsis Al-Shehbaz, O＇Kane ＆ Price, and four species, Draba huetii Boiss., Eutrema halophilum （C. A. Mey.） Al-Shehbaz ＆ S. I. Warwick, Galitzkya spathulata （Steph. ex Willd.） V. Bocz., and Pseudoarabidopsis toxophylla （Bieb.） Al-Shehbaz, O＇Kane ＆ Price, could not be confirmed in China. The occurrence of six species, Aphragmus bouffordii Al-Shehbaz, Barbarea orthoceras Ledeb., Lepidium latifolium L., Ptilotrichum canescens （DC.） C. A. Mey., Strigosella hispida （Litv.） Botsch., and Strigosella scorpioides （Bunge） Botsch., is not confirmed in certain provinces of China. All names follow the latest taxonomic treatment for relevant groups; detailed morphological descriptions of the newly recorded taxa are provided; and distinguishing characters from related species already known in China are discussed. Other comments are provided where needed.

Electrophysiological responses of Plutella xylostella to 9 different plant volatiles

Plutella xylostella is the main pest of cruciferae plants in the worldwide fields.The volatiles released from host plants serve vital roles in host-finding and oviposition behavior.Electroantennograms were recorded from male and female Plutella xylostella to 9 different plant volatiles(cabbage Brassica oleracea L.var.capitata,baby bokchoi Brassica chinensis L.,broccoli Brassica oleracea L.var.botrytis L.,Chinese cabbage Brassica pekinensis Rupr.,Radish Raphanus sativus L.,towel gourd Luffa Cylindrica Roem.,eggplant Solanum melongena L.,tomato Solanum lycopersicum,pepper Capsicum annuum L.) in healthy/injured status.The statistic analysis show there is a significant difference of EAG relative values between cruciferae and non-cruciferae volatiles.The EAG relative values of injured plant volatiles to both male and female changed a lot during the tests.Multiple-ANOVA analysis represents cross factors(sex,host-plant,plant status) showed a great interactive impacts to the EAG-RV.

A Facile and Green Synthesis of Sulforaphane

The compound sulforaphane （SFN, 1） has been synthesized via a facile and green synthetic strategy based on the modification of previous methods. Because of its high bioactivities and rare content in nature, the present work is of great important significance.

Construction of a New Molecular Barcode for Discriminating Plants and Animals with a Close Genetic Relationship

DNA barcodes have been proposed as a shortcut to provide species identification and as a way to accelerate the discovery of new species. A number of candidate gene regions have been suggested as possible barcodes for animals and plants, but for the identification of recently diverged species and/or varieties with only a few genetic differences it has been reported to be problematic in some cases. This study selected widely cultivated cruciferous vegetables as the primary samples, after failure of discrimination of each species using current DNA barcodes, we performed the fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism （F-AFLP） and successfully discriminated each species, subspecies, variety and their cultivar in 74 samples. Then the non-qualitative results obtained from F-AFLP were transformed into two-dimensional barcodes image file of each cultivar via the PDF417 software. This method was also successfully applied to the discrimination of 17 Chinese indigenous pig breeds. The barcode we constructed which greatly reduces the information storage space is genotypes-specific, and can be conveniently decoded into the original data and thereby be conveniently shared and referred to. We believe that it is possible to construct a new data sharing molecular barcode system that could discriminate the subspecies, varieties, cultivars and even individuals with close genetic relationships.

Research Progress on Bolting and Flowering Characteristics of Cruciferous Vegetables

There are many varieties of vegetables in Cruciferae,which have a wide distribution and occupy an important position in the global vegetable industry.The bolting period is a crucial stage in the growth cycle of cruciferous plants,which directly affects the yield and quality of vegetable crops.This paper summarized the research progress on the physiological and biochemical characteristics,molecular genetic mechanisms and molecular markers of the flowering and bolting traits in cruciferous vegetables,in order to provide new ideas for revealing the regulatory mechanisms of flowering and bolting in cruciferous vegetables and to provide reference for the breeding of new varieties of cruciferous vegetables that are resistant to flowering.

Genomes of Meniocus linifolius and Tetracme quadricornis reveal the ancestral karyotype and genomic features of core Brassicaceae

Brassicaceae represents an important plant family from both a scientific and economic perspective.However,genomic features related to the early diversification of this family have not been fully characterized,especially upon the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau,which was followed by increasing aridity in the Asian interior,intensifying monsoons in Eastern Asia,and significantly fluctuating daily temperatures.Here,we reveal the genomic architecture that accompanied early Brassicaceae diversification by analyzing two high-quality chromosome-level genomes for Meniocus linifolius(Arabodae;clade D)and Tetracme quadricornis(Hesperodae;clade E),together with genomes representing all major Brassicaceae clades and the basal Aethionemeae.We reconstructed an ancestral core Brassicaceae karyotype(CBK)containing 9 pseudochromosomes with 65 conserved syntenic genomic blocks and identified 9702 conserved genes in Brassicaceae.We detected pervasive conflicting phylogenomic signals accompanied by widespread ancient hybridization events,which correlate well with the early divergence of core Brassicaceae.We identified a successive Brassicaceae-specific expansion of the class I TREHALOSE-6-PHOSPHATE SYNTHASE 1(TPS1)gene family,which encodes enzymes with essential regulatory roles in flowering time and embryo development.The TPS1s were mainly randomly amplified,followed by expression divergence.Our results provide fresh insights into historical genomic features coupled with Brassicaceae evolution and offer a potential model for broad-scale studies of adaptive radiation under an ever-changing environment.

Indole alkaloid sulfonic acids from an aqueous extract of Isatis indigotica roots and their antiviral activity

Six new indole alkaloid sulfonic acids(1–6), together with two analogues(7 and 8) that were previously reported as synthetic products, were isolated from an aqueous extract of the Isatis indigotica root. Their structures including the absolute configurations were determined by spectroscopic data analysis, combined with enzyme hydrolysis and comparison of experimental circular dichroism and calculated electronic circular dichroism spectra. In the preliminary assay, compounds 2 and 4 showed antiviral activity against Coxsackie virus B3 and influenza virus A/Hanfang/359/95(H3N2), respectively.

Sulfur-enriched alkaloids from the root of Isatis indigotica

Five new sulfur-enriched alkaloids isatithioetherins A–E(1–5), and two pairs of scalemic enantiomers(t)-and( à)-isatithiopyrin B(6 a and 6 b) and isoepigoitrin and isogoitrin(7 a and 7 b), along with the known scalemic enantiomers epigoitrin and goitrin(8 a and 8 b), were isolated and characterized from an aqueous extract of the Isatis indigotica roots. Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic data analysis, including 2 D NMR and theoretical calculations of electronic circular dichroism(ECD) spectra based on the quantum-mechanical time-dependent density functional theory(TDDFT). Compounds 1–5 represent a novel group of sulfur-enriched alkaloids, biogenetically originating from stereoselective assemblies of epigoitrin-derived units. Isolation and structure characterization of 6 a and 6 b support the postulated biosynthetic pathways for the diastereomers 9 a and 9 b via a rare thio-Diels–Alder reaction. Compounds 2 and 4 showed antiviral activity against the influenza virus A/Hanfang/359/95(H3 N2, IC500.60 and 1.92 μmol/L) and the herpes simplex virus 1(HSV-1, IC503.70 and 2.87 μmol/L), and 2 also inhibited Coxsackie virus B3(IC500.71 μmol/L).& 2018 Chinese Pharmaceutical Association and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

8,4′-Oxyneolignane glucosides from an aqueous extract of“ban lan gen”(Isatis indigotica root)and their absolute configurations

Three pairs of glycosidic 8,4′-oxyneolignane diastereoisomers, named isatioxyneolignosides A-F(1–6), were isolated from an aqueous extract of Isatis indigotica roots. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic data analysis and enzyme hydrolysis. The validity of Δδ_(C8-C7) values to distinguish threo and erythro aryl glycerol units and Cotton effects at 235±5 nm to determine absolute configurations at C-8 in 1–6 and their aglycones(1a–6a) are discussed.

Three pairs of alkaloid enantiomers from the root of Isatis indigotica

Three pairs of enantiomerically pure alkaloids with diverse structure features, named isatindigoticoic acid A and epiisatindigoticoic acid A [(—)-1 and(+)-1], phaitanthrin A and epiphaitanthrin A [(—)-2 and(+)-2], and isatindopyrromizol A and epiisatindopyrromizol A [(—)-3and(+)-3], respectively, were isolated from an aqueous extract of the roots of Isatis indigotica. Racemic and scalemic mixtures of these enantiomers were separated by HPLC on a chiral semi-preparative column.Their structures including absolute configurations were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis in conjunction with the calculation of electronic circular dichroism(ECD) spectra. The enantiomer pairs possess parent structures of 2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-4-carboxylic acid, indolo[2,1-b]quinazolinone, and 3-thioxohexahydro-1H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-1-one, respectively. Except for phaitanthrin A[(—)-2] which the configuration was previously undetermined, these compounds are new enantiomeric natural products.

Aromatic compounds from an aqueous extract of “ban lan gen” and their antiviral activities

A pair of new diphenyl glycerol ether enantiomers(-)-l and(+)-l and two new methyl benzamidobenzoates 2 and 3,named(-)-(R)-and(+)-(S)-isatindigotrioic acid[(-)-l and(+)-l]and isatindigoticamides A(2) and B(3),respectively,were isolated from an aqueous decoction of the roots of Isatis indigotica(ban lan gen).Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data analysis including2 D NMR experiments.The absolute configurations of(-)-l and(+)-l were assigned based on the CD exciton chirality method.Compounds 2 and 3 exhibited antiviral activities against HSV-1 with IC_(50)values of 4.87 and 25.87μmol/L,respectively.Compound 2 was also found active against Coxsackie virus B3 and LPS-induced NO production.

Isatindolignanoside A, a glucosidic indole-lignan conjugate from an aqueous extract of the Isatis indigotica roots

A glucosidic indole-lignan conjugate with a novel carbon skeleton, named isatindolignanoside A（1）, was isolated from an aqueous extract of the Isatis indigotica roots ＂ban lan gen＂. Its structure was elucidated by comprehensive analysis of spectroscopic data, including J-and NOESY correlation-based configurational analysis, circular dichroism（CD） data, enzyme hydrolysis, and theoretical ECD calculation. In a preliminary assay, compound 1 showed antiviral activity against Coxsackie virus B3. This compound is the first example of natural product having a structural feature of conjugation between indole and lignan units, and its biosynthetic pathway is postulated.

Two pairs of unusual scalemic enantiomers from Isatis indigotica leaves

Two pairs of unusual scalemic enantiomers with a dimethoxyphenyl）ethyl]-2-methoxyindolin-3-one, novel carbon skeleton of 2-[1′-（4＂-hydroxy-3＂,5＂- named isatidifoliumindolinones A-D （1-4）, were isolated from an aqueous extract of lsatis indigotica leaves （da qing ye）. Their structures including absolute configurations were determined by spectroscopic data analysis combined with comparison of their experimental CD and calculated ECD spectra. Validity of the ECD spectra calculation to assign the absolute configurations is discussed. Plausible biosynthetic pathways of 1-4 are proposed. Stereochemistry-dependent activity against LPS-induced NO production in BY2 cells was observed, and among the stereoisomers compound 4 is most active.

Indole alkaloid glycosides with a 1′-(phenyl)ethyl unit from Isatis indigotica leaves

Seven indole alkaloid glycosides containing a 1′-(4″-hydroxy-3″,5″-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl unit(1-7)were isolated from an aqueous extract of Isatis indigotica leaves(da qing ye).Their structures were determined by spectroscopic data analysis combined with enzymatic hydrolysis as well as comparison of their experimental CD(circular dichroism)and calculated ECD(electrostatic circular dichroism)spectra.Based on analysis of[α]D20 and/or Cotton effect(CE)data of 1-7,two simple roles to assign location and/or configuration ofβ-glycopyranosyloxy and 1′-(phenyl)ethyl units in the indole alkaloid glycosides are proposed.Stereoselectivity in plausible biosynthetic pathways of 1-7 is discussed.Compounds 3 and 4 and their mixture in a 3:2 ratio showed activity against KCNQ2 in CHO cells.The mixture of 5 and 6(3:2)exhibited antiviral activity against influenza virus H1 N1 PR8 with IC5064.7μmol/L(ribavirin,IC5054.3μmol/L),however,the individual 5 or 6 was inactive.Preliminary structure-activity relationships were observed.

The Mitochondrial Genome of Raphanus sativus and Gene Evolution of Cruciferous Mitochondrial Types

To explore the mitochondrial genes of the Cruciferae family, the mitochondrial genome of Raphanus sativus （sat） was sequenced and annotated. The circular mitochondrial genome of sat is 239,723 bp and includes 33 protein-coding genes, three rRNA genes and 17 tRNA genes. The mitochondrial genome also contains a pair of large repeat sequences 5.9 kb in length, which may mediate genome reorga-nization into two sub-genomic circles, with predicted sizes of 124.8 kb and 115.0 kb, respectively. Furthermore, gene evolution of mitochondrial genomes within the Cruciferae family was analyzed using sat mitochondrial type （mitotype）, together with six other re-ported mitotypes. The cruciferous mitochondrial genomes have maintained almost the same set of functional genes. Compared with Cycas taitungensis （a representative gymnosperm）, the mitochondrial genomes of the Cruciferae have lost nine protein-coding genes and seven mitochondrial-like tRNA genes, but acquired six chloroplast-like tRNAs. Among the Cruciferae, to maintain the same set of genes that are necessary for mitochondrial function, the exons of the genes have changed at the lowest rates, as indicated by the numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms. The open reading frames （ORFs） of unknown function in the cruciferous genomes are not conserved. Evolutionary events, such as mutations, genome reorganizations and sequence insertions or deletions （indets）, have resulted in the non- conserved ORFs in the cruciferous mitochondrial genomes, which is becoming significantly different among mitotypes. This work represents the first phylogenic explanation of the evolution of genes of known function in the Cruciferae family. It revealed significant variation in ORFs and the causes of such variation.

Characteristics,composition and functional properties of seeds,seed cake and seed oil from different Brassica carinata genotypes

Carinata(Brassica carinata)is an oilseed crop with potential in biofuel production and livestock feed.The present research was conducted to evaluate twenty Brassica carinata genotypes used in breeding programs to develop commercial production of Brassica carinata with low levels of erucic acid.The following characters were evaluated:oil contents,fatty acid profiles,physicochemical characteristics of oils,as well as the content of protein,total phenolic compounds,and the antiradical activity of Brassica carinata defatted seed cake.The oil analysis indicated desirable quality,including low percentages of free fatty acids(FFA),high amounts of unsaponifiable matter(USM),and low values for primary and secondary oxidation products that were under the regulated limits.The oil contents of the samples varied between 27.0 and 39.2%.A total of 16 fatty acid compositions were identified in different samples.As compared to the commercial canola oil,it was observed that Brassica carinata 14C genotype had quite similar fatty acid composition.Total phenolics and protein contents of Brassica carinata cake extract varied from 43.2 to 132 mg/100 g and from 24.6 to 35.4%,respectively.It can be noted that Brassica carinata genotype 14C with low erucic acid(EA)and high oleic acid contents consider as an edible oil cultivar.Regarding EA,the genotypes 3C,10C,and 17C with low EA content could be recommended as a basis for further breeding programs.Brassica carinata cake from different genotypes might be a valuable source of natural antioxidants due to their antioxidant capacities and free radical scavenging potential.