# Epigenetic odyssey to decrypt the hidden code for sustainable brassica production: enhancing yield, stress resilience and nutritional quality

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how epigenetic modifications can improve Brassica crops' yield, stress resilience, and nutritional quality in the face of climate change.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive review of recent epigenetic approaches applied to enhance Brassica crops for sustainable agriculture.

## Key findings

- Epigenetic modifications like DNA methylation and histone modification influence key agronomic traits in Brassica crops.
- Recent sequencing technologies and genome editing have enabled the identification of crucial epigenetic markers.
- Epigenetic strategies are being used to develop climate-smart Brassica varieties with improved productivity and resilience.

## Abstract

High demand for agricultural products together with the changing climate imposes an urgency for improving crop productivity and quality. The Brassica family has evolved as a globally significant oilseed crop due to its multifaceted application for edible oils, seed meals, and biodiesel production. However, its wide-scale crop production is limited due to the advent of several external stressors. Development of resilient Brassica crops requires recognition of the chromatin state complexes to fine tune the transcriptional machinery. Epigenetic modification through DNA methylation, histone modification, RNA directed gene silencing, and chromatin remodeling plays a major role in modulating flowering time, gametogenesis, embryogenesis, seed development and whole genome duplication to shape key agronomical traits. In conjunction, recent progress in the field of sequencing technologies and genome editing have led to the characterization of key epigenetic markers for identifying crucial agronomic traits and subsequent molecular designing. Therefore, the current review details the mechanism and application of the recent epigenetic approaches that have contributed for the generation of climate-smart Brassica family.