The beneficial role of the Mediterranean diet in the prevention of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity, is well-recognized. In this context, Brassicaceae are considered important vegetables due to several evidences of their health promoting effects that are associated to bioactive compounds present in the edible parts of the plants. In this review, the mechanisms of action and the factors regulating the levels of the bioactive compounds in Brassicaceae have been discussed. In addition, the impact of industrial and domestic processing on the amount of these compounds have been considered, in order to identify the best conditions that are able to preserve the functional properties of the Brassicaceae products before consumption. Finally, the main strategies used to increase the content of health-promoting metabolites in Brassica plants through biofortification have been analyzed.

SUMMARYIn this study, the meiotic role of MEIOTIC CONTROL OF CROSSOVERS1 (MCC1), a GCN5-related histone N-acetyltransferase, is described in Arabidopsis. Analysis of the over-expression mutant obtained by enhancer activation tagging revealed that acetylation of histone H3 increased in male prophase I. MCC1 appeared to be required in meiosis for normal chiasma number and distribution and for chromosome segregation. Overall, elevated MCC1 did not affect crossover number per cell, but has a differential effect on individual chromosomes elevating COs for chromosome 4, in which there is also a shift in chiasma distribution, and reducing COs for chromosome 1 and 2. For the latter there is a loss of the obligate CO/chiasma in 8% of the male meiocytes. The meiotic defects led to abortion in about half of the male and female gametes in the mutant. In wild type, the treatment with trichostatin A, an inhibitor of histone deacetylases, phenocopies MCC1 over-expression in meiosis. Our results provide evidence that histone hyperacetylation has a significant impact on the plant meiosis.

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Spatial and temporal changes in configurations of microtubules (MTs) and microfilaments (MFs) were determined during microsporogenesis, using -tubulin immunolocalization and rhodamine-phalloidin staining of F-actin, in a 2n pollen producer of Solanum, to assess the anomalies in meiotic spindles and cytokinesis and their relationships to 2n pollen formation. InSolanum, MTs and MFs generally showed patterns of localization similar to those described in other dicotyledons with simultaneous cytokinesis. However, deviations in spatial configurations of both MTs and MFs that are related to 2n pollen were observed in meiosis II and in cytokinesis. MTs and MFs localized in spindles in parallel orientation at meiosis II. In contrast, in the majority of normal meiocytes, the two spindles were seen to be perpendicular to each other. The parallel spindles altered the position of the postmeiotic nuclei, causing a uniplanar instead of a tetrahedral arrangement. Subsequently, the formation of regular radial MT systems was suppressed and only two MT arrays, which lay parallel on one plane, formed between the nuclei at the end of meiosis. A single cell plate formed across the two MT arrays, giving rise to a dyad containing 2n microspores.Key words: cytokinesis, microfilaments, microtubules, spindle, unreduced pollen.