Watercress (Nasturtium officinale R. Br.; Brassicaceae) is a highly nutritious leafy green vegetable consumed globally, with a rich health-related phytonutrient profile that includes the secondary plant metabolites glucosinolates (GLS), especially gluconasturtiin and its hydrolysis product phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC). The peppery taste and pungency of watercress comes from these mustard oils, and they are known to help reduce inflammation and chronic damage in cells and have been shown to have a role in cancer prevention in vitro and in vivo.

We explored how both genotype and highly contrasting environments of California (CA) and the United Kingdom (UK) alter phenotypic traits for a set of F_2:4 genotypes created from a unique bi-parental cross, chosen for their extreme phenotypes for yield, leaf and branch morphology, antioxidant capacity, and glucosinolate content in two contrasting field locations. Although both genotype and environment had a significant impact on plant morphology, nutritional quality, and yield, overall, the highly contrasting environments of California and the UK, had a much stronger effect.

Plants grown in CA had higher biomass, thicker main stem and more branches, and a higher concentration of aromatic GLS, whilst plants grown in the UK had larger leaves with longer stems, suggesting a better harvestable product, at least for a salad and not a soup crop. Significant G x E interactions were observed for multiple traits, suggesting significant phenotypic plasticity of watercress and variation between genotypes that will enable the selection of ideotypes suitable for these highly contrasting growth environments, that can be considered as the ‘extremes’ of an environmental gradient where the crop might be grown, from the warm and dry soil-grown conditions of California to the relatively cool and wet aquatic growing system of the UK.

西洋菜（Nasturtium officinale R. Br.；十字花科）是一种全球消费的高营养绿叶蔬菜，具有丰富的与健康相关的植物营养素特征，包括植物次生代谢产物芥子油苷 (GLS)，尤其是葡糖苷及其水解产物异硫氰酸苯乙酯 (PEITC) ). 西洋菜的辛辣味和辛辣味来自这些芥末油，众所周知，它们有助于减少炎症和细胞慢性损伤，并已被证明在体外和体内具有预防癌症的作用。

我们探索了加利福尼亚 (CA) 和英国 (UK) 的基因型和高度对比的环境如何改变一组 F _{2 :4}基因型的表型特征，这些基因型由独特的双亲杂交产生，因其产量的极端表型而被选择，叶和树枝形态、抗氧化能力和硫代葡萄糖苷含量在两个对比的田间位置。尽管基因型和环境对植物形态、营养质量和产量都有显着影响，但总的来说，加利福尼亚和英国高度对比的环境产生的影响要大得多。

在 CA 种植的植物具有更高的生物量、更粗的主茎和更多的分枝，以及更高浓度的芳香 GLS，而在英国种植的植物具有更大的叶子和更长的茎，这表明产品的可收获性更好，至少对于沙拉而不是蔬菜汤作物。观察到多种性状的显着 G x E 相互作用，表明西洋菜具有显着的表型可塑性和基因型之间的变异，这将使选择适合这些高度对比生长环境的基因型成为可能，这可以被视为环境梯度的“极端”，其中从加利福尼亚温暖干燥的土壤生长条件到英国相对凉爽潮湿的水生生长系统，都可以种植农作物。