Sucrose (suc) is a disaccharide that consists of glucose (glu) and fructose (fru). It is a carbohydrate source that acts as a nutrient molecule and a molecular signal that regulates gene expression and alters metabolites. This study aimed to evaluate whether suc-specific signaling induces an increase in bioactive compounds by exogenous suc absorption via roots or whether other factors, such as osmotic stress or biotic stress, are involved. To compare the osmotic stress induced by suc treatment, 4-week-old cultured mugwort plants were subjected to Hoagland nutrient solution with 10 mM, 30 mM, and 50 mM of suc or mannitol (man) for 3 days. Shoot fresh weight in suc and man treatments was not significantly different from the control. Both man and suc treatments increased the content of bioactive compounds in mugwort, but they displayed different enhancement patterns compared to the suc treatments. Mugwort extract treated with suc 50 mM effectively protected HepG2 liver cells damaged by ethanol and t-BHP. To compare the biotic stress induced by suc treatment, 3-week-old mugwort plants were subjected to microorganism and/or suc 30 mM with Hoagland nutrient solution. Microorganisms and/or suc 30 mM treatments showed no difference about the shoot fresh weight. However, sugar content in mugwort treated with suc 30 mM and microorganism with suc 30 mM treatment was significantly higher than that of the control. Suc 30 mM and microorganism with suc 30 mM were effective in enhancing bioactive compounds than microorganism treatment. These results suggest that mugwort plants can absorb exogenous suc via roots and the enhancement of bioactive compounds by suc treatment may result not from osmotic stress or biotic stress because of microorganism, but by suc-specific signaling.

Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
    1. Plant Materials, Growth Conditions, and Treatments
    2. Shoot Fresh Weight and Leaf Water Potential
    3. Sugar Content
    4. Total Phenolic Content, Total Flavonoid Content,and Antioxidant Capacity
    5. Protective effect of cytotoxicity in mugwort
    6. Data Analysis
Results and Discussion
Comparison with Biotic Stress
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Literature Cited
적 요

• Moon-Sun Yeom(Post-doctoral researcher, Division of Animal, Horticultural and Food Sciences, Chungbuk National University)
• Jun-Soo Lee(Professor, Division of Animal, Horticultural and Food Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Professor, Brain Korea 21 Center for Bio-Health Industry, Chungbuk National University)
• Myung-Min Oh(Professor, Division of Animal, Horticultural and Food Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Professor, Brain Korea 21 Center for Bio-Health Industry, Chungbuk National University) Corresponding author