With the purpose of improving ginsenoside production in Korean wild ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) mutant adventitious root lines, a synthetic gene encoding squalene synthase (PgSS2) was placed under the control of 35S promoter and transferred to Panax ginseng. Embryogenic callus obtained from ginseng adventitious root lines were transformed by infection with A. tumefaciens strain EHA105 containing the PgSS2 gene. Ten phosphinothricin-resistant plants were generated on selection medium, and the transgene integration and expression in these plants were confirmed by PAT test strip, RT-PCR and Southern hybridization. Ginsenoside analysis by HPLC revealed that the total contents of the 8 ginsenoside types (Rg1, Re, Rf, Rh1, Rb1, Rc, Rb2, Rd) in transgenic adventitious root lines were about 1.6-fold higher than that of the mutant control line (MCL1). This transformation method may facilitate the improvement of Panax ginseng in terms of the accumulation levels of ginsenoside.

• Jun-Ying Zhang(Faculty of Biotechnology, Jeju National University)
• Hyeon-Jin Sun(Subtropical Horticulture Research Institute, Jeju National University)
• In-Ja Song(Faculty of Biotechnology, Jeju National University)
• Hong-Gyu Kang(Subtropical Horticulture Research Institute, Jeju National University)
• Suk-Min Ko(Subtropical Horticulture Research Institute, Jeju National University)
• Yong-Ik Kwon(Subtropical Horticulture Research Institute, Jeju National University)
• Il-Woung Kim(Subtropical Horticulture Research Institute, Jeju National University)
• Jae-Hoon Kim(Faculty of Biotechnology, Jeju National University)
• Hyo-Yeon Lee(Faculty of Biotechnology, Jeju National University, Subtropical Horticulture Research Institute, Jeju National University) Corresponding Author