Background : The causative organism of Astragalus membranaceus (Hwanggi) root rot disease was known as Pythophthora drechsleri. In this study, a new species of root rot causative organism has been identified and reported. Methods and Results : Hwanggi, which has root rot disease, was collected in Jungsun-gun, Gangwon-do. The diseased root was cut into 1 ㎝ size and disinfected with 1% sodium hypochlorite solution for 1 minute and washed with sterile distilled water. The dried samples were dipped in the PDA medium and cultured in at 25℃ incubator. The 21 isolates were cultured under the same conditions and genomic DNA was extracted. The genomic DNA of isolated strains was extracted using a kit of Biofact. The isolated strains were identified using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequencing. The ITS region was amplied using the primer pair ITS1 (5’-TCCGTAGGTGAACCTGCGG-3’) and ITS4 (5’-TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC-3’). The PCR was performed in a final volume of 50 ㎕ containing 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 50 mM KCl, 1.5 mM MgCl2, each dNTP at a concentration of 0.2 mM, 1.25 IU of Taq polymerase, each primer at a concentration of 10 pmol, and 2ul of the DNA template. Sequencing was performed by asking Macrogen. The analyzed sequences were compared using the Blast program provided by NCBI. As a result of identification of 21 strains, 13 Fusarium spp., 1 Peronospora sp. (causative organism of downy mildew), 3 Acremonium spp., 3 Uncultured fungus, 1 Phyrtophthora sp.. The main pathogen of wilt disease was known as Fusarium sp., a soil-borne pathogen. After analyzing the systematic taxonomic relationships, the systematic diagram was created using the neighbor-joining method. Conclusion : We have finally identified Phytophthora cryptogea as a causative organism of Hwanggi root rot disease and will check whether the disease has occurred on the inoculation through pot test.

Background : Recently, there is an urgent demand for development of new varieties with enhanced resistance to various biotic/abiotic stresses. One generation of ginseng is four years, so it takes a long time to breed. To increase the efficiency of the ginseng breeding and save time and effort, it is necessary to build a ginseng core collection. This study examined the major growth characteristics of genetic sources for the establishment of core collection. Methods and Results : As plant materials, 187 ginseng lines collected in 2003 were used in this study. Ginseng Seeds were harvested at the end of July 2014, sown in mid-November, and cultivated in 2015 for one year in the field and then transplanted into the main field in 2016. All phenotypes including agronomic characteristics, seed yield, and physiological response to biotic/abiotic stresses were investigated according to the ginseng GAP and UPOV guidelines. The stem colors of the collected ginseng germplasm were classified as the five classes; light green, green, light purple, purple and dark purple, but most of them were purple or dark purple. The locations of distribution of anthocyanin coloration in stem were classified into the four classes; proximal end, proximal end and petiole part, the entire stem and the stem with purple not revealed, but most of them were petiole part or the entire stem. The shapes of leaflet were classified the four classes; the long elliptic, elliptic, slender type, and spatulate type. Most of surveyed lines were elliptic type. When the leaflet of ginseng was laterally cut, the shape was classified into the three types; concave type, plane type and convex type. Most of surveyed lines were red berry color. Conclusion : The genetic pool of ginseng is known to be narrow. The results of this study showed similar characteristics among the ginseng fields collected. In the future, we will carry out the survey about quantitative characteristics and correlations of ginseng genetic resources for establishment of Korean ginseng core collection.

Background : This study was carried out to introduce Atractylodes macrocephala as a new income element in Gangwon area and to develop the technology necessary for stable quality seedling production. Methods and Results : For the production of high quality seedlings of Atractylodes macrocephala, seedling growth characteristics were investigated according to the types of plug cell size and seedling raising period. Atractylodes macrocephala seeds were sown on February 14, 2018 in 72, 105, 128, 162, and 200 plug trays. The emergence period after sowing was March 2, and the final occurrence rate was 76.6 - 79.5%. The number of days of emergence took 18 to 20 days from sowing date. Growth of seedlings tended to be better with less number of plug trays, such as seedling height, seedling width, leaf length, leaf width and leaf number. On the other hand, roots (net formation) increased rapidly as the number of plug trays increased. After 60 days, the matured seedling rate was good at 75.5 ± 8.4% for the 200 plug tray and 72.5 ± 4.1% for the 162 plug tray. The net formation ratio of matured seedling was the best in 60 days of seeding in 162 plug trays. The rooting rate was 98.0 ± 2.1 - 99.3 ± 1.2% when seeded for 60 days or more regardless of the type of plug tray. Conclusion : In order to produce efficient and stable seedlings in the cultivation of Atractylodes macrocephala in Gangwon area, it was considered to be advantageous for 60 days of seedling settling in the plug trays of more than 162 and less than 200.

Background : Atractylodes macrocephala is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the family Asteraceae and should be cultivated in field soils with good water dripping due to plant characteristics. However, cultivating farmers mainly have recently been cultivated in paddy soil due to their regional characteristics, which causes the decrease in yield due to poor drainage. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the cultivation in high ridge and subsoil breaking effect for stable paddy soils cultivation technology of A. macrocephala. Methods and Results : Soil was paddy soils in the fall of 2017, and the pH (1 : 5) was 6.61 ± 0.15 as a result of chemical and physical properties. EC was 0.49 ± 0.05 dS/m, and organic matter content was 28.69 ± 69 g/㎏ and effective phosphoric acid was 306 ± 17.8 ㎎/㎏. As a result of the soil layering survey, the surface layer was 0 - 26 ㎝ deep as paddy soil mounded with sandy loam in the past. In the surface layer, there was a light layer after 17 ㎝ depth, and volume density was 1.71 ± 1.3 g/㎤. The porosity of the plow pan was 33.41 ± 2.34%. The cultivation methods were cultivation in high ridge (30 ㎝ or more) and level row (10 ㎝ or less) at 2 levels and 3 repetitions. In subsoil breaking, the depth of the plow pan was increased from 17.1 ± 0.5 ㎝ before treatment to 31.1 ± 3.6 ㎝ after treatment and the hardness was 24.8 ± 1.5 ㎜. In the case of rotary plowing, the depth of the plow pan was 17.1 ± 1.9 ㎝ before treatment and 26 ± 2.4 ㎝ after treatment and the hardness was 25.8 ± 2.9 ㎜. The medium growth characteristics of A. macrocephala per treatment showed the tendency of increase in plant length, culm length, number of nodes, number of leaves, and fresh weight in level row cultivation after subsoil breaking. Root growth of cultivation in high ridge after subsoil breaking tended to be good with rhizome weight of 11.6 g per hill. The survival percentages were 98.8 - 100% and the bolting rate was 93.4 - 96.2% Conclusion : In cultivation in high ridge after subsoil breaking in the paddy field of Gangwon area, the decrease of yield of A. macrocephala due to drainage was expected to be alleviated, but final conclusion should be drawn after analyzing soil temperature and soil moisture data.

Background : Endophytes are generally regarded as beneficial microorganisms that live in plant tissues without disease symptoms. The endophytic species may differ depending on the plant age, the sampled time, the plant genotype, and the tissue. Although numerous endophytes have been identified from various plants, little is known about the endophytic bacteria of Panax quinquefolius, a useful herb plant. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate diversity and distribution of endophytic bacteria from 2-years-old to 6-years-old P. quinquefolius and to evaluate antimicrobial activity of isolates. Methods and Results : Initially, 2-years-old to 6-years-old plants were collected and sterilized with 70% ethanol and sodium hypochlorite, subsequently we prepared individual suspensions which were mixed with sample and sterile distilled water. A total of 88 single colonies were obtained from the LB agar plates spreading suspension. Using 16S rDNA sequencing, the taxonomic status of the isolates were determined consequently 42 species were identified. The 42 species were classified into 4 phylum; Proteobacteria (64%), Firmicute (27%), Actinobacteria (8%), and Bacteroidetes (1%). Based on age, the isolates of 5-years-old plant showed highest diversity. Moreover, Actinomycetales, Bacillales, and Pseudomonadales were equally dispersed as predominant orders in 5-years-old plant. The antagonistic activities of isolates against a phytopathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 : GFP (Pst : GFP) were performed using dual culture assays. We measured antibacterial activity by quantifying fluorescence of Pst:GFP which representing pathogen growth. As a result, 36 isolates inhibited growth of Pst:GFP. Interestingly, all species belonging Pseudomonas in this study showed strong antibacterial activity against Pst : GFP. Conclusion : These results improve our understanding of the structure and diversity of the endophytic bacteria of P. quinquefolius. Furthermore, we suggest that bacterial endophytes with antimicrobial activity might have useful as materials for biocontrol agents.

Background : The Production of high quality ginseng seedling become increasingly important in the cultivation of ginseng because the quality of ginseng seedling is closely related to yield of ginseng. However, it has become difficult to produce high quality ginseng seedling due to environmental instability such as an increase in the occurrence of abnormal climate and pests, and the difficulty in obtain new place to cultivate ginseng seedling. This study was carried out to analyze the growth characteristics of ginseng seedling according to application of fermented compost during ginseng seedling cultivation Methods and Results : In order to evaluate the effect of fermented compost on the growth of ginseng seedling, fermented compost containing antagonistic microorganism was prepared and applied 300kg per 10a to planned place for ginseng cultivation. After seeding of the ginseng seeds, the growth of ginseng was analysed. The pH, EC, organic matter, P2O5 and NO3-N of the compost treated group were 6.1, 2.75 ds/m, 18.97 g/㎏, 1,202 ㎎/㎏ and 287.4 ㎎/㎏, respectively, while those of non-treated group were 6.6, 0.25 ds/m, 14.67 g/㎏, 1,055 ㎎/㎏ and 8.77 ㎎/㎏, respectively. As a result of analyzing the growth characteristics of ginseng seedling, the growth of aboveground part was not significantly different between the treated and non-treated group. The root length and root diameter were 13.0 ± 1.50 ㎝ and 5.5 ± 0.27 ㎜, respectively, which were not significantly different from non-treated group. However, root weight was 1.20 ± 0.14 g, which is 1.4 times higher than that of control. Conclusion : It was confirmed that the quality of ginseng seedling was improved by compost application. These results suggested that fermented compost could be used as a material for nutrients management in ginseng seedling cultivation.

Background : Ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) is a precious herb plant belonging to Araliaceae family especially in Asia and it has been cultivated more than a thousand years as a traditional medicine. Due to their pharmacological efficacy, old ginseng plants are traded high price, however, there are no crucial criteria to determine the ginseng age. To prevent illegal transactions, we assessed the telomere of ginseng roots based on modifications of the assays reported previously. Methods and Results : It is known that telomere length of ginseng root is shorter upon organismal aging. In this study, to support the determination of ginseng age, we modified and investigated methods through telomere analysis. Firstly, we examined the southern blot analysis whether telomere length depends on ginseng age. Based on previous study, we measured telomerase activity that is correlate with age. Furthermore, telomeric DNA was quantified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to corroborate telomere shortening. The older ginseng root was shown short telomere length to compare with younger ginseng roots. Also enzyme activity of telomerase and amount of telomeric DNA represented decrease patterns upon age. Conclusion : Taken together, it is help to determine the age of ginseng through various methods using telomere because the results shown to positive correlation between telomeric characteristics and age for ginseng.

Background : The P. ginseng breeding line G07006, was selected for salt tolerance through salinity screening of mature leaves at the NIHHS of the RDA in 2014-2016. However, it is difficult to maintain a genetically stable breeding line of cross-pollinating crop in the field. Therefore molecular marker required to identify and maintain breeding line G07006. Methods and Results : DNA was extracted following the CTAB DNA extraction protocol (Doyle and Doyle, 1987) with modifications. A pair-end (PE) library was constructed and sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq platform by Lab Genomics, Inc. (Seongnam, Korea). Approximately 4.0 Gb of sequencing data were obtained, and de novo assembled by a CLC genome assembler(v. beta 4.6, CLC Inc., Rarhus, Denmark). The complete chloroplast(CP) genome size is 156,356 bp, including two inverted repeats (IRs) of 52,060 bp, separated by the large single-copy (LSC 86,174 bp) and small single-copy (SSC 18,122 bp) regions. This CP genome encodes 114 unigenes (80 protein-coding genes, four rRNA genes, and 30 tRNA genes), in which 18 are duplicated in the IR regions. Conclusion : This complete chloroplast DNA sequence will provide conducive to discriminate line G070006 (salt-tolerant) and further enhancing genetic improvement program of this important medical plant.