AUTHOR=Liu Zhiyuan , Liang Jianli , Zheng Shuning , Zhang Jifang , Wu Jian , Cheng Feng , Yang Wencai , Wang Xiaowu 

TITLE=Enriching Glucoraphanin in Brassica rapa Through Replacement of BrAOP2.2/BrAOP2.3 with Non-functional Genes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.01329

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2017.01329

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Sulforaphane, the hydrolytic product of glucoraphanin glucosinolate, is a potent anticarcinogen that reduces the risk of several human cancers. However, in most <italic>B. rapa</italic> vegetables, glucoraphanin is undetectable or only present in trace amounts, since the glucoraphanin that is present is converted to gluconapin by three functional <italic>BrAOP2</italic> genes. In this study, to enrich beneficial glucoraphanin content in <italic>B. rapa</italic>, the functional <italic>BrAOP2</italic> alleles were replaced by non-functional counterparts through marker-assisted backcrossing (MAB). We identified non-functional mutations of two <italic>BrAOP2</italic> genes from <italic>B. rapa</italic>. The backcross progenies with introgression of both non-functional <italic>braop2.2</italic> and <italic>braop2.3</italic> alleles significantly increased the glucoraphanin content by 18 times relative to the recurrent parent. In contrast, replacement or introgression of single non-functional <italic>braop2.2</italic> or <italic>braop2.3</italic> locus did not change glucoraphanin content. Our results suggest that replacement of these two functional <italic>BrAOP2</italic> genes with non-functional alleles has the potential for producing improved <italic>Brassica</italic> crops with enriched beneficial glucoraphanin content.</p>