Omega-3 fatty acids have proven to be very essential for human health due to their multiple health benefits. These essential fatty acids (EFAs) need to be uptaken through diet because they are unable to be produced by the human body. These are important for skin and hair growth as well as for proper visual, neural, and reproductive functions of the body. These fatty acids are proven to be extremely vital for normal tissue development during pregnancy and infancy. Omega-3 fatty acids can be obtained mainly from two dietary sources: marine and plant oils. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; C20:5 n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; C22:6 n-3) are the primary marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids. Marine fishes are high in omega-3 fatty acids, yet high consumption of those fishes will cause a shortage of fish stocks existing naturally in the oceans. An alternative source to achieve the recommended daily intake of EFAs is the demand of today. In this review article, an attempt has, therefore, been made to discuss the importance of omega-3 fatty acids and the recent developments in order to produce these fatty acids by the genetic modifications of the plants.

Homeobox (HB) genes are crucial for plant growth and development processes. They encode transcription factors and responses to various stresses, as reported by recent emerging evidence. In this study, a total of 113 BraHB genes were identified in Brassica rapa. On the basis of domain organization and phylogenetic analysis, the BraHBs were grouped into nine subclasses, in which homeobox leucine-zipper (HB LZP-III) showed the highest number of genes (28) compared to other subclasses. The BraHBs exhibited similarities in exon–intron organization and motif composition among the members of the same subclasses. The analysis revealed that HB-Knotted was more preferentially retained than any other subclass of BraHB. Furthermore, we evaluated the impact of whole-genome triplication on the evolution of BraHBs. In order to analyze the subgenomes of B. rapa, we identified 39 paralogous pairs for which synonymous substitution values were lower than 1.00 for further purifying selection. Finally, the expression patterns of BraHBs across six tissues expressed dynamic variations combined with their responses against multiple stresses. The current study provides brief information on the homeobox gene family in B. rapa. Our findings can serve as a reference for further functional analysis of BraHBs.

The type 2C protein which belongs to the major group of protein phosphatases (PP2C) plays a vital role in abscisic acid (ABA) signaling and signal transductions processes. In the present study, 131PP2Cgenes were identified in total inBrassica rapaand categorized into thirteen subgroups based on their phylogenetic relationships. TheseB. rapaPP2C are structurally conserved based on amino acid sequence alignment, phylogenetic analysis, and conserved domains. Moreover, we utilized previously reported RNA-sequence data on various tissues (root, stem, leaf, flower, and silique), which suggests overlapping expression pattern in 29 paralogous gene pairs. The qRT-PCR validation of 15 paralogous gene pairs depicts distinct expression patterns in response to various abiotic stresses, such as heat, cold, ABA, and drought. Interestingly, stress-responsiveBraPP2Ccandidate genes were also identified, suggesting their significance in stress-tolerance mechanism inB. rapa. The evolutionary analysis for 15 paralogous gene pairs suggested that only three pairs have the positive selection and remaining were purifying in nature. The presented results of this study hasten our understanding of the molecular evolution of thePP2Cgene family inB. rapa. Thus, it will be ultimately helping in future research for facilitating the functional characterization ofBraPP2Cgenes in developing the abiotic stress tolerant plants.

The GSTs is one of the most important multifunctional protein families which has been playing a crucial role in the different aspects of plant growth. This extensive study about GSTs may establish a solid foundation for the brief functional analysis of BraGSTs in future. In this study, a total of 75 genes were identified in B. rapa. Phylogenetic analysis characterized them into eight different subclasses, while Tau and Phi subclasses were the most numerous. The exon-intron structure and the motif composition of BraGSTs were exhibited accordingly to their subclasses. Notably, we also investigated 15 tandem paralogous pairs of genes, which highlighted that all the pairs were purifying in nature as their synonymous values were lower than 1.00. Duplication analysis indicated that about 45.33% of genes mainly occurred through tandem duplication in B. rapa. Predominately, the tandem cluster of genes in subclass Tau was greater than the other subclasses. Furthermore, among eight multiple hormonal treatments (ABA, GA, BR, ETH, IAA, IBA, NPA, and JA), most number of BraGSTs was activated by NPA, BR, and ABA treatments. This analysis has provided comprehensive information about GSTs family which may assist in elucidating their exact functions in B. rapa.