Barbarea vulgaris

Barbarea vulgaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Barbarea
Species: B. vulgaris
Binomial name
Barbarea vulgaris
R.Br.
Synonyms
  • Cheiranthus ibericus Willd.
  • Barbarea ceretana Sennen
  • Erysimum barbarea L.
  • Erysimum arcuatu Opiz ex J. Presl & C. Presl

Barbarea vulgaris, also called bittercress, herb barbara, rocketcress, yellow rocketcress, winter rocket, and wound rocket, is a biennial herb of the genus Barbarea, belonging to the mustard family.

Etymology

The genus name Barbarea derives from Saint Barbara, the patron saint of artillerymen and miners, as this plant in the past was used to soothe the wounds caused by explosions. The species Latin name vulgaris means “common”.

Description

Close-up on flowers of Barbarea vulgaris

This plant grows to about 30–60 cm (12–24 in) high, with a maximum of 1 m (3 ft 3 in). The stem is ribbed and hairless, branched at the base. It has a basal rosettes of shiny, dark green leaves. The basal leaves are stalked and lyre-pinnatifid, that is with a large terminal lobe and smaller lower lobes. The cauline leaves are smaller, ovate, toothed, or lobed. The flowers are borne in spring in dense terminal clusters above the foliage. They are 7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in) long, with four bright yellow petals. The flowering period extends from about April through July. The fruit is a pod around 15–30 mm (0.59–1.18 in).

Chemical substances in this species include saponins,[references 6, 7, 8)] flavonoids,[1] and glucosinolates.[2][3]

Natural insect resistance and its potential use in agriculture

Most B. vulgaris genotypes are naturally resistant to some insect species that are otherwise specialized on the crucifer family. In the case of diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and the flea beetle Phyllotreta nemorum, the resistance is caused by saponins.[4][5][6][7] Glucosinolates such as glucobarbarin and glucobrassicin are used as a cue for egg-laying by female cabbage white butterflies such as Pieris rapae. Indeed, the larvae of this butterfly thrive well on this plant. Diamondback moth females are also stimulated by these chemicals, but the larvae die due to the content of saponins which are apparently not sensed by the moths. This phenomenon has been tested for biological insect control: B. vulgaris plants are placed in a field and attract much of the diamondback moth egg load. As the larvae die shortly after hatching, this kind of insect control has been named "dead-end trap cropping".[8]

Distribution

Native to Eurasia, it is naturalised in many parts of North America as a weed.

Habitat

The plant prefers fresh or moist places, on roadsides, along rivers, or on the slopes and in ditches, at an altitude of 0–1,600 m (0–5,249 ft) above sea level.

Natural chemotypes with distinct ecology

A pubescent type (the "P-type") has been described from southern Scandinavia and Russia. While this chemotype is rare in Scandinavia, it seems to be dominant in Russia according to the only survey made so far (Christensen et al., 2014). This type has atypical chemistry and is devoid of resistance to the diamondback moth and the flea beetle Phyllotreta nemorum. The P-type belongs morphologically to the variety B. vulgaris var. arcuata, but may also be identical to the subspecies originally described as Barbarea arcuata Rchb. ssp. pubescens N. Busch. In this context, the usual type of B. vulgaris var. arcuata is called the "G-type" (for glabrous (hairless) leaves). This type is reported to be dominant in Central Europe (Christensen et al., 2014). On a genomic scale, more than 22.000 genes (89% of those tested) were found to have fixed differences between the two types (Byrne et al., 2017).

A chemotype with deviating glucosinolate content has been described from Western and Central Europe and named the "NAS-type" (because it is dominated by the glucosinolate glucoNASturtiin. This type has increased resistance to some specialized insects. In this context, the usual chemotype of B. vulgaris is called the "BAR" type (because it is dominated by glucoBARbarin) (van Leur et al., 2006).

While the P-type and G-type differ in multiple genetic, chemical and morphological features, the NAS and BAR types seem to be a simple monogenic variation (van Leur et al., 2006). For this reason, it has been suggested to refer to NAS and BAR forms (from the lowest botanical rank forma) and P- and G-types. Indeed, occasional NAS form plants in Central Europe were found to be G-type by a set of genetic markers (Agerbirk et al., 2015).

Christensen et al., 2014. Christensen S, Heimes C, Agerbirk N, Kuzina V, Olsen CE, Hauser TP (2014) Different geographical distributions of two chemotypes of Barbarea vulgaris that differ in resistance to insects and a pathogen. Journal of Chemical Ecology 40, 491-501. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10886-014-0430-4

Byrne et al., 2017. Byrne SL, Ehrtmann PØ, Agerbirk N, Bak S, Hauser TP, Nagy I, Paina C, Asp T (2017) The genome sequence of Barbarea vulgaris facilitates the study of ecological biochemistry. Scientific reports 7:40728 doi:10:1038/srep40728 https://www.nature.com/articles/srep40728

Agerbirk et al., 2015. Agerbirk N, Olsen CE, Heimes C, Christensen S, Bak S, Hauser TP (2015) Multiple hydroxyphenethyl glucosinolate isomers and their tandem mass spectrometric distinction in a geographically structured polymorphism in the crucifer Barbarea vulgaris. Phytochemistry 115, 130-142.

Subspecies

References

  1. ↑ Dalby-Brown, Lea; Olsen, Carl Erik; Nielsen, Jens Kvist; Agerbirk, Niels (2011). "Polymorphism for Novel Tetraglycosylated Flavonols in an Eco-model Crucifer, Barbarea vulgaris". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 59 (13): 6947–56. PMID 21615154. doi:10.1021/jf200412c.
  2. ↑ Agerbirk, Niels; Olsen, Carl Erik (2011). "Isoferuloyl derivatives of five seed glucosinolates in the crucifer genus Barbarea". Phytochemistry. 72 (7): 610–23. PMID 21354584. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2011.01.034.
  3. ↑ Agerbirk, Niels; Ørgaard, Marian; Nielsen, Jens Kvist (2003). "Glucosinolates, flea beetle resistance, and leaf pubescence as taxonomic characters in the genus Barbarea (Brassicaceae)". Phytochemistry. 63 (1): 69–80. PMID 12657300. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(02)00750-1.
  4. ↑ Kuzina, V.; Ekstrom, C. T.; Andersen, S. B.; Nielsen, J. K.; Olsen, C. E.; Bak, S. (2009). "Identification of Defense Compounds in Barbarea vulgaris against the Herbivore Phyllotreta nemorum by an Ecometabolomic Approach". Plant Physiology. 151 (4): 1977–90. PMC 2785962 Freely accessible. PMID 19819983. doi:10.1104/pp.109.136952.
  5. ↑ Kuzina, Vera; Nielsen, Jens Kvist; Augustin, Jörg Manfred; Torp, Anna Maria; Bak, Søren; Andersen, Sven Bode (2011). "Barbarea vulgaris linkage map and quantitative trait loci for saponins, glucosinolates, hairiness and resistance to the herbivore Phyllotreta nemorum". Phytochemistry. 72 (2–3): 188–98. PMID 21130479. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2010.11.007.
  6. ↑ Nielsen, Nikoline J.; Nielsen, John; Staerk, Dan (2010). "New Resistance-Correlated Saponins from the Insect-Resistant CruciferBarbarea vulgaris". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 58 (9): 5509–14. PMID 20387830. doi:10.1021/jf903988f.
  7. ↑ Shinoda, Tetsuro; Nagao, Tsuneatsu; Nakayama, Masayoshi; Serizawa, Hiroaki; Koshioka, Masaji; Okabe, Hikaru; Kawai, Akira (2002). "Identification of a triterpenoid saponin from a crucifer, Barbarea vulgaris, as a feeding deterrent to the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 28 (3): 587–99. PMID 11944835. doi:10.1023/A:1014500330510.
  8. ↑ Shelton, A. M. and B. A. Nault (2004) "Dead-end trap cropping: a technique to improve management of the diamondback moth," Crop Protection 23: 497-503.

Further reading

Wikiversity has bloom time data for Barbarea vulgaris on the Bloom Clock
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