Plasmodiophora brassicae (Woronin, 1877), a biotrophic, obligate parasite, is the causal agent of clubroot disease in brassicas. The clubroot pathogen has been reported in more than 80 countries worldwide, causing economic losses of hundreds of millions every year. Despite its widespread impact, very little is known about the molecular strategies it employs to induce the characteristic clubs in the roots of susceptible hosts during infection, nor about the mechanisms it uses to overcome genetic resistance. Here, we provide the first telomere-to-telomere complete genome of P. brassicae. We generated ∼27 Gb of Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, and PacBio HiFi data from resting spores of strain Pb3A and produced a 25.3 Mb assembly comprising 20 chromosomes, with an N50 of 1.37 Mb. The BUSCO score, the highest reported for any member of the group Rhizaria (Eukaryota: 88.2%), highlights the limitations within the Eukaryota database for members of this lineage. Using available transcriptomic data and protein evidence, we annotated the Pb3A genome, identifying 10,521 protein-coding gene models. This high-quality, complete genome of P. brassicae will serve as a crucial resource for the plant pathology community to advance the much-needed understanding of the evolution of the clubroot pathogen.

The management of vegetable waste and byproducts is a global challenge in the agricultural industry. As a commonly consumed vegetable crop, cruciferous vegetables marked higher amounts of wastage during their supply chain processes, with a significant contribution from cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. Therefore, the sustainable and resource-efficient utilization of discarded materials is crucial. This review explores potential applications of cruciferous vegetable waste and byproducts, spotlighting cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli in food, medicinal, and other industries. Their significance of being utilized in value-added applications is addressed, emphasizing important biomolecules, technologies involved in the valorization process, and future aspects of practical applications. Cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli generate waste and low-processing byproducts, including leaves, stems, stalks, and rot. Most of them contain high-value biomolecules, including bioactive proteins and phytochemicals, glucosinolates, flavonoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids, and tocopherols. Interestingly, isothiocyanates, derived from glucosinolates, exhibit strong anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity through various interactions with cellular molecules and the modulation of key signaling pathways in cells. Therefore, these cruciferous-based residues can be valorized efficiently through various innovative extraction and biotransformation techniques, as well as employing different biorefinery approaches. This not only minimizes environmental impact but also contributes to the development of high-value-added products for food, medicinal, and other related industries.

Sulfur containing compounds including glucosinolates (GLS), sulforaphane (SFN) and S-methyl-l-cysteine sulfoxide (SMCSO) have been proposed to be partly responsible for the beneficial health effects of cruciferous vegetables. As such, greater understanding of their measurements within foods is important to estimate intake in humans and to inform dietary intervention studies. Herein is described a simple and sensitive method for simultaneous analysis of 20 GLS, SFN and SMCSO by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Analytes were effectively retained and resolved on an Xbridge C18 column. Detection can be achieved using high resolution or unit resolution mass spectrometry; the latter making the method more applicable to large studies. Quantitative analysis using calibration standards was demonstrated for 10 GLS, SFN and SMCSO. A further 10 GLS were tentatively identified using high resolution mass spectrometry. The use of surrogate GLS standards was shown to be unreliable, with closely related GLS displaying significantly different ionisation efficiencies.

Our research group previously found that broccoli sprouts possess neuroprotective effects during pregnancy. The active compound has been identified as sulforaphane (SFA), obtained from glucosinolate and glucoraphanin, which are also present in other crucifers, including kale. Sulforaphene (SFE), obtained from glucoraphenin in radish, also has numerous biological benefits, some of which supersede those of sulforaphane. It is likely that other components, such as phenolics, contribute to the biological activity of cruciferous vegetables. Notwithstanding their beneficial phytochemicals, crucifers are known to contain erucic acid, an antinutritional fatty acid. The aim of this research was to phytochemically examine broccoli, kale, and radish sprouts to determine good sources of SFA and SFE to inform future studies of the neuroprotective activity of cruciferous sprouts on the fetal brain, as well as product development. Three broccoli: Johnny\'s Sprouting Broccoli (JSB), Gypsy F1 (GYP), and Mumm\'s Sprouting Broccoli (MUM), one kale: Johnny\'s Toscano Kale (JTK), and three radish cultivars: Black Spanish Round (BSR), Miyashige (MIY), and Nero Tunda (NT), were analyzed. We first quantified the glucosinolate, isothiocyanate, phenolics, and DPPH free radical scavenging activity (AOC) of one-day-old dark- and light-grown sprouts by HPLC. Radish cultivars generally had the highest glucosinolate and isothiocyanate contents, and kale had higher glucoraphanin and significantly higher sulforaphane content than the broccoli cultivars. Lighting conditions did not significantly affect the phytochemistry of the one-day-old sprouts. Based on phytochemistry and economic factors, JSB, JTK, and BSR were chosen for further sprouting for three, five, and seven days and subsequently analyzed. The three-day-old JTK and radish cultivars were identified to be the best sources of SFA and SFE, respectively, both yielding the highest levels of the respective compound while retaining high levels of phenolics and AOC and markedly lower erucic acid levels compared to one-day-old sprouts.

The potential antiviral effects of indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a phytochemical found in Cruciferous vegetables, were investigated. Fibroblasts and epithelial cells were co-cultured on Alvetex® scaffolds, to obtain ad hoc 3D in vitro platforms able to mimic the trachea and intestinal mucosae, which represent the primary structures involved in the coronavirus pathogenesis. The two barriers generated in vitro were treated with various concentrations of I3C for different incubation periods. A protective effect of I3C on both intestinal and trachea models was demonstrated. A significant reduction in the transcription of the two main genes belonging to the Homologous to E6AP C-terminus (HECT)-E3 ligase family members, namely NEDD4 E3 Ubiquitin Protein Ligase (NEDD4) and WW Domain Containing E3 Ubiquitin Protein Ligase 1 (WWP1), which promote virus matrix protein ubiquitination and inhibit viral egression, were detected. These findings indicate I3C potential effect in preventing coronavirus cell egression processes that inhibit viral production. Although further studies are needed to clarify the molecular mechanisms whereby HECT family members control virus life cycle, this work paves the way to the possible therapeutic use of new natural compounds that may reduce the clinical severity of future pandemics.

Green tissues and seeds from cruciferous vegetables growing in conventional and ecological conditions (Brassica carinata; Brassica rapa; Eruca vesicaria and Sinapis alba) were analyzed to determine their contents of glucosinolates, isotihiocyanates (ITCs) and inorganic micronutrients (Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Se and Zn), and the bioaccessibility of these compounds. Regarding total contents and bioaccessibility values of these compounds, no clear difference was found between the organic and conventional systems. Glucosinolates bioaccessibility present in green tissues were high, with values around 60-78%. In additon, it was quantified in bioaccessible fraction ITCs concentrations such as Allyl - ITC; 3 - Buten - 1 - yl - ITC and 4 - Penten - 1 - yl - ITC. Trace elements bioaccessibility in green tissues was also high for Ca (2.26-7.66 mg/g), Cu (0.60-2.78 µg/g), Se (9.93-74.71 µg/Kg) and Zn (12.98-20.15 µg/g). By contrast, the bioaccessibility of glucosinolates and trace elements in cruciferous seeds was extremely low. With the exception of Cu, these bioaccessibility percentages did not exceed 1% in most cases.

As one of the important sources of human nutrition, Brassicaceae vegetables are widely grown worldwide. Black rot caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) seriously affects the quality and yield of Brassicaceae vegetables. Therefore, it is important to study control methods of Xcc for Brassicaceae vegetable production. This paper reviews the physical, chemical, and biological control methods of Xcc in Brassicaceae vegetables developed in recent years, and the underlying mechanisms of control methods are also discussed. Based on our current knowledge, future research directions for Xcc control are also proposed. This review also provides a reference basis for the control of Xcc in the field cultivation of Brassicaceae vegetables.

The impact of mild oven treatments (steaming or sous-vide) and boiling for 10 min, 25 min, or 40 min on health-promoting phytochemicals in orange and violet cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis) was investigated. For this purpose, targeted ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis of phenolics and glycosylates, combined with chemometrics, was employed. Regardless of cooking time, clear differentiation of cooked samples obtained using different procedures was achieved, thus demonstrating the distinct impact of cooking approaches on sample phytochemical profile (both, compound distribution and content). The main responsible components for the observed discrimination were derivatives of hydroxycinnamic acid and kaempferol, organic acids, indolic, and aromatic glucosinolates, with glucosativin that was found, for the first time, as a discriminant chemical descriptor in colored cauliflower submitted to steaming and sous-vide. The obtained findings also highlighted a strict relationship between the impact of the cooking technique used and the type of cauliflower. The boiling process significantly affected the phytochemicals in violet cauliflower whereas orange cauliflower boiled samples were grouped between raw and either steamed or sous-vide-cooked samples. Finally, the results confirm that the proposed methodology is capable of discriminating cauliflower samples based on their phytochemical profiles and identifying the cooking procedure able to preserve bioactive constituents.

Glucosinolates (GSLs) are a group of cancer chemopreventive sulfur-containing compounds found primarily in Brassica vegetables. The goals of this study were to summarize the current knowledge and discuss the challenges of developing a dietary GSL database for US foods. A systematic literature search was conducted for the period 1980-2020. Thirty articles were found to meet all inclusion and exclusion criteria; 27 GSLs were reported in 16 different vegetables. GSLs identified and quantified ranged from 3 for winter cress to 16 for cabbage. In general, the experimental designs of these 30 studies did not fully consider the factors related to the data quality. Enormous variations of GSLs are observed between different vegetables and in the same vegetables. In conclusion, the studies on GSLs in commonly consumed vegetables are still limited, and some data may be outdated. Currently available data are not sufficient to develop a valid GSL database in the United States.

The effect of steam and sous-vide oven procedures on liposoluble antioxidants of colored cauliflower (orange and purple) was assessed for the first time and compared with domestic practice (boiling). In raw samples, the total carotenoid content was 10-fold higher in Cheddar than in Depurple (20.9 ± 2.1 vs. 2.3 ± 0.5 mg/kg dry weight), whereas the level of tocopherols was similar (28.5 ± 4.4 vs. 33 ± 5.2 mg/kg dry weight). The Cheddar liposoluble antioxidant matter contained violaxanthin, neoxanthin, α-carotene and δ-tocopherol, not detected in Depurple. All tests increased the bioactive compounds extractability with steam oven and sous-vide displaying similar effects, lower than boiling. In boiled Cheddar cauliflower, the total carotenoids and tocopherols contents increased with cooking time until they were 13-fold and 6-fold more than in raw cauliflower, respectively. Conversely, in the Depurple variety, contents increased by half with respect to the orange variety. However, from a nutritional point of view, no differences were revealed among the three different cooking treatments in terms of vitamin A and E levels expressed in μg/100 g of fresh vegetable because of the higher water content of boiled samples that must be considered when evaluating the effect of thermal treatment on cauliflower nutritional traits.