Cynanchum wilfordii Radix (CWR), Arctium lappa L (ALL), and Dioscorea opposite (DO) have been known to improve blood lipid profile, blood pressure, and inflammation. To find the optimal combination ratio of CWR, ALL, and DO in terms of vascular health improvement, we compared the effects of various combinations on gene expression of Vascular cell adhesion protein 1 (VCAM-1) in human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMC). VCAM-1 mediates endothelial leukocyte adhesion and is upregulated in atherosclerosis. Cells was stimulated by TNF-α (10 ng/㎖, 2h) and treated with various combinations for 24 h. A combination (CADM5, CWR:ALL:DO = 2:1:1) showed the strongest suppression of VCAM-1 so that CADM5 was chosen for further experiments. We performed cell viability test with CADM5 (0, 3.125, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 ㎍/㎖) and no cytotoxicity was found. We also investigated the effect of CADM5 on protein expression of VCAM-1, ICAM-1, Nrf-2, and HO-1 using western blotting. We found that CADM5 diminished the expression of VCAM-1 and increased the expression of Nrf-2 and HO-1. Therefore, we concluded that CADM5 (CWR:ALL:DO = 2:1:1) effectively improves vascular health by regulating the expression of VCAM-1.
Menopause is characterized by a decrease in estrogen production by the ovaries. Furthermore, the risk of developing chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes increases in menopausal women. In this study, we evaluated the ability of Caragana sinica (CS) to affect lipid and glucose metabolism in an ovariectomized Sprague-Dawley rat model of induced menopause. The animals were divwided randomly into three groups: sham-operated rats (SHAM), ovariectomized rats (OVX), and ovariectomized rats treated with 1% water extract of CS (OVX-CS). The OVX-CS treated mice showed a significant decrease in body weight, adipose tissue, triglyceride, and total cholesterol. Improved lipid and glucose profiles were also observed, and were attributed to suppression of hepatic lipogenesis and adipokine production and regulation of glucose-regulating enzyme activity. Therefore, these findings indicate a potential use for CS as a functional food for menopause-induced hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia.
The aim of this study was to analyze antioxidant activity, total phenolics, and vitamin C content in unripe and ripe jujube cultivar and to investigate correlation between antioxidant and chemical constituents including total phenolics and vitamin C. The antioxidant activity was measured by the DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS radical scavenging activity, and reducing power. Although, the weight, diameter and soluble solids of Zyziphus jujuba fruit were increased with the progress of ripening, antioxidant activity and total phenolics were decrease during ripening. The highest free-radical scavenging activity (at 2.5 ㎎/㎖) and reducing power (at 1 ㎎/㎖) in fruit were 81.75% (Bokjo, unripe) and 0.80 (Mudeung, unripe), respectively. The highest total phenolic content in unripe fruit of Mudeung was 62.50 ㎍/g. A linear correlation (r=0.911) was shown between DPPH radical scavenging activity and total phenolic content.
The genus Tilia is characterized by linear form bracts of which the lower part is attached to the peduncle of a cyme. This character is distinguished from the others genus of Malvaceae. The purpose of this study is verifying the phylogenetic relationship of genus Tilia. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted to evaluate relationships of 10 taxa of Tilia in Korea and Japan including one outgroup (Gossypium hirsutum). The molecular phylogenetic analyses were conducted with sequences based on ITS, trnL-F and rpl32-trnL region. The combined data result of ITS, trnL-F and rpl32-trnL was formed by 6 clades. T. kiusiana situated as the most basal clade. T. amurensis, T. taquetii and T. rufa are composed a clade. T. koreana, T. insularis and T. japonica was formed independent clade. T. insularis has the closest relationship with T. japonica. T. miqueliana, T. mandshurica, and T. megaphylla are composed a clade and showed a sister relationship than other species.
The morphological characteristics and genetic relationships among 32 germplasms of Zanthoxylum schinifolium and Zanthoxylum piperitum collected from two farms in Korea were investigated. The traits with the most variability were seed color, leaf size, and spine size. The intraspecific polymorphism of Z. schinifolium and Z. piperitum was 96.5% and 60.3%, respectively. The genetic diversity and Shannon’s information index values ranged from 0.11 to 0.33 and 0.19 to 0.50, with average values of 0.26 and 0.42, respectively. Two ISSR primers (UBC861 and UBC862) were able to distinguish the different species. The genetic similarity matrix (GSM) revealed variability among the accessions ranging from 0.116 to 0.816. The intraspecific GSM for Z. schinifolium and Z. piperitum was 0.177–0.780 and 0.250–0.816, respectively. The GSM findings indicate that Z. schinifolium and Z. piperitum accessions have high genetic diversity and possess germplasms qualifying as good genetic resources for cross breeding. The clustering analysis separated Z. schinifolium and Z. piperitum into independent groups, and all accessions could be classified into three categories. Z. Schinifolium var. nermis belonged to independent groups. Comparison of the clusters based on morphological analysis with those based on ISSR data resulted in an unclear pattern of division among the accessions. The study findings indicate that Z. schinifolium and Z. piperitum accessions have genetic diversity, and ISSR markers were useful for identifying Z. schinifolium and Z. piperitum.
This research was performed to develop mass propagation method of round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.) for improving horticultural usefulness. Seeds were collected around Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do in October of 2011 and experimented upon while being dry-stored at 4 ± 1.0℃ (darkness). Seed length of a major and minor axis were 1.58 ± 0.060 and 0.21 ± 0.016 ㎜, respecrively, and weight of 1,000 seeds was 6.24 ± 0.172 ㎎. Seeds were thus classified as ‘dwarf seeds’. Regarding the dormancy type, since round-leaved sundew seeds were dormancy broken and germinated at 20~30℃ under the light condition after wet-chilling treatment for 12 weeks, seeds were estimated to have physiological dormancy. Germination conditions of dormancy broken seeds were found to be 20℃ and light condition (54.7%), but germination decreased at higher temperature. Percent germination (PG), germination energy (GE), mean germination time (MGT) and T50 were effectively improved by chemical treatment such as GA3 200 ㎎/L + kinetin 20 ㎎/L and wet-chilling treatment for 14 weeks. In conclusion these optimal conditions were thought to be a useful method for raising seedling uniformly.
For the last few decades, much research has been tried to improve crop’s characteristics such as crop yield, quality, seeding period and environmental adaptability. In this paper, the effect of nanobubbles on the germination rate of barley seed is experimentally investigated. The air nanobubble was generated in water by gas-liquid mixing method. The results were shown that the mean diameter and concentration of nanobubble fabricated in DI water are 133 ㎚ and 8.59✕108 particles/㎖, respectively. Also, the seed germination rate for the nanobubble water was approximately 40 % higher than that of pure water.
The final goal of this research is to develop a miniaturized botanical biofilter using a wick-typed automatic humidifier for stabilizing soil moisture content (SMC) and purifying indoor air pollutants by the biofilter. This new biofilter equipped with wick-typed automatic humidifier was manufactured as more compacted design removing an absorption tower-typed humidifier compared with the previous big-sized biofilter made in 2015. This study was performed to compare changes of SMCs among floors depending on the number of wicks installed on the humidifier within the novel biofilter, and to compare changes of SMCs and plant growth parameters before and after planting Spathiphyllum wallisii ‘Mauna Loa’ on the biofilter. SMCs among floors depending on the number of wicks were similar, and all regression lines of SMCs showed almost horizontal lines because of long-term stability on SMCs. Comparing plant growth parameters of S. wallisii ‘Mauna Loa’ before planting and at 30 days after planting on the biofilter, all growth parameters were not statistically significant. Thus, SMCs of the biofilter were more stabilized using this humidifying appar
Little attention has been paid to the functional aspect of the flower petal of Paeonia lactiflora, compared to that of its root. To determine the components of flower petal of Paeonia lactiflora, we conducted the Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) MASS spectrophotometric analysis. We detected the 24 different types of ingredients from the 70% ethanol extracts of flower petal of peonia lactiflora cv. ‘Red Charm’. The main compounds were quercetin glucopyranosides, methyl gallate, paonioflolol and kaemperol glucopyranosides. We further tested its functional activity. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity of the extracts was 87.9-90.4% at 0.1mg/ml. This result showed that these flower extracts have approximately 5-fold stronger antioxidant potential than a previous report with root extracts (Bang et al. 1999). The result of tyrosinase inhibition assay of Paeonia lactflora extract was almost similar to that of arbutin except significantly higher effect in the coral sunset extract at 0.1% concentration. Hyaluronidase inhibition assay showed 76.5% inhibition at 5% concentration of this flower extract, indicating that Peaonia lactiflora flower extracts have the major anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and brightening effects. Taken together, these results suggest these three Paeonia lactiflora species extracts might provide the basis to develop a new natural brightening agent.
The aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of vigor of a bearing shoot in ‘Bluecrop’ Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) on growth characteristics of shoots and fruits. Bearing shoots were classified with BS (bearing shoot) and BMB (bearing mother branch). The vigor of bearing shoots were divided into four arbitrary categories; A was thin (< 6.0 ㎜) BMB and short (< 10 ㎝) BS, B was thin BMB and long (≥ 10 ㎝) BS, C was thick (≥ 6 ㎜) BMB and short BS and D was thick BMB and long BS. Shoots from D were longer (6.5 ㎝) and thicker (1.70 ㎜) than those from the others. Shoots of D had more leaves (5.8 ea) than those of the others. Leaf area of D was larger (13.5 ㎠) than those of the others. The first harvest of D was one week faster than the others. Ratio of big berry (> 14 ㎜) from the long BSs was higher (B : 41.7, D : 46.8%) than that from the short BSs. Soluble solid content of small berrys did not show any different according to vigor of bearing shoots, but soluble solid content of big berrys of the long BSs was higher (B : 16.2, D : 15.6 o Bx) than those of the short BSs. The thickness of BMB did not affect ratio of fruit size and soluble soild content. The long BSs would be proper than the short BSs for bearing bigger fruits.
This study is aimed at identifying the distribution of vascular plants growing at Byeollipsan(Mt.), Bongchunsan (Mt.) and Gucksoosan(Mt.) in Ganghwa isand. Field surveys were conducted for each season from March 2015 to October 2015. The flora of study area were found to be of 455 taxa, 93 families, 280 genus, 392 species, 4 subspecies, 53 varieties and 6 forma. Rare plants were found to be of 3 taxa. Among them, rare plant species consisted of endangered species (EN degree):1 (Thalictrum simlex var. brevipes Hara), vulnerable species (VU degree): 2 (Wikstroemia trichotoma (Thunb.) Makino, Scorzonera albicaulis Bunge), respectively. In all the surveyed areas, a total of 6 taxa (Clematis brachyura Maxim. etc.) were found to be endemic to Korea. The floristic special plants found in the surveyed areas were 1 taxa of grade Ⅴ, 4 taxa of grade Ⅳ and 8 taxa of grade Ⅲ, respectively. The naturalized plants were identified as 29 taxa and included Fallopia dumetorum (L.) Holub, Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., Aster pilosus Willd. etc..
The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is mandatory in adipogenesis. In this study, we investigated the applicability of functional materials for the treatment of obesity by examining Wnt/β-catenin pathway reporter activity related to adipocyte differentiation inhibiting with korean native plant extracts. The luciferase activity of HEK 293-TOP cells increased the reporter activity approximately 152% and 130% by treatment with Sanguisorba officinalis and Thuja orientalis, respectively. Ricinus communis were represented about 90% higher activity, two samples(Rosa rugosa and Sophorae Flos) showed 80% higher activity than the control. Three samples of plant extracts (Zanthoxylum piperitum, Pueraria thunbergiana, Solanum nigrum) were about 70% higher activity compared with the non-treated control. Cytotoxicity of plant extracts was not detected in the rat neural stem cells. These results suggest that the selected eight plant extracts are safe compounds. Our findings indicate that Wnt/β-catenin pathway reporter activity could be used for high throughput screening system. In addition, the plant extracts selected as candidates for adipocyte differentiation inhibiting may be potential therapeutic agents for obesity, it will be exploring the possibility of developing an anti-obesity materials through further experiments with selected plant extracts.
A new Gomchwi cultivar ‘Gommany’ was bred by crossing between Gomchwi (Ligularia fischeri (Ledeb.) Turcz.) and Handaeri-gomchwi (Ligularia fischeri var. spiciformis Nakai). The selection and investigation of growth and yield characteristics were conducted from 2006 to 2011 in field and greenhouse of Highland Agriculture Research Institute, NICS, Rural Development Administration. The color of petiole ear was purple. Petiole trichome existed, but light of leaf back did not. Density of leaf vein was 5 degree in a newly developed cultivar ‘Gommany’. Plant height, leaf length, leaf width and petiole length were 47.7, 16.3, 21.2, and 31.4 ㎝, respectively in the 3 year of growth characteristics. Plant size was also higher than that of ‘Gondalbi’. Bolting and flowering time were Aug. 5 and Sept. 10, respectively. In contrast, Bolting time of ‘Gondalbi’ showed 25 days quite earlier bolting time compared to ‘Gommany’, Which led to earlier flowering time. ‘Gommany’ showed higher number of leaves (138) per plant compared to ‘Gondalbi’ (130). Furthermore, yield was 97% higher in ‘Gommany’ (1,575 g/plant) than in ‘Gondalbi’ (798 g/plant). ‘Gommany’ showed higher leaf thickness (0.69㎜) than ‘Gonalbi’ (0.46 ㎜), and consequently showed more hardness in leaf characteristics (24.3 ㎏/㎠) compared to ‘Gondalbi’ (23.0㎏/㎠). ‘Gommany’ showed higher resistance in the susceptibility of powdery mildew compared to ‘Gondalbi’. ‘Gommany’ cultivar was registered as a novel variety with number 90 in The Minister of the Korea Forest Service on December 2015.
A new Gentiana spp. cultivar “Skyblueball” was bred by crossing between “Jinbu-65 line” with violet blue (VB 95B) colored petals as female and “Jinbu-1 line” with violet blue (VB 93B) petals as male in 2000 year. The superior line of 00-168-3 was selected in Daegwallyeong from 2001 to 2003 year, and its growth and flower characterization were conducted from 2004 to 2007 year in field of Daegwallyeong and Jinbu, Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do, Namwon, Jeollabuk-do and Jeju Special Self-Governing-do. The flower showed violet blue (VB 96C) color at opening, the petal of flower had not spot and flower stem color was purple. The flowers were bloomed at the same time from bottom to upside (Table 1). Plant height was 62.9 ㎝ , number of flower stem per plant is 8.3, number of flower node per stem was 5.3, and number of flower per stem was 21.7 (Table 2). The flowering of ‘Skyblueball’ was bloomed from July 26 in Daegwallyeong, August 3 in Jinbu and Namwon, and June 28 in Jeju Special Self-Governing-do. ‘Skyblueball’ cultivar can be used for cut flower.