Propylea japonica is small ladybug(approximately 4-5mm) and is met with everywhere in Korea. When there was no aphid, the survival rate of P. japonica was 0% among another instar bugs and 26.7～32.8% among same instar bugs after 48 hours. When there were sufficient aphids, the cannibalism of P. japonica was low, so the survival rate of P. japonica was 78.6～95.8% among another instar bugs and 80.6～100% among same instar bugs after 48 hours. In the comparison of the number of eggs at different oviposition site, P. japonica preferred the corrugated cardboard. In experiment using T-tube, the rate of decoy was 81% at cotton aphid compared with pepper leaf and 62% at cotton aphid compared with artificial diet. In the artificial diet using shrimp and chicken liver, the developmental period from egg to adult was 17days and the survival rate from egg to adult was 66.7% but the vitality was not good. These data suggest that P. japonica can be used effective natural enemy for control of aphids and is needed to research about artificial diet, mass rearing system and control effect in field.

Backgrounds : The action mechanisms of several chemopreventive agents derived from herbal medicine and edible plants have become attractive issues in cancer research. Tea is the most widely consumed beverage worldwide. It have been demonstrated that the active principles of tea sources such as flower extract Camellia sinensis (CSF) and Camellia japonica (CJF)were attributed to their tea polyphenols. We focused on investigating CSF, CJF, mixtures of CSF and CJF has been proven to suppress colonic tumorigenesis. Methods and Results : In this study, human colorectal carcinoma HT-29 cells were treated with CSF, CJF, mixture of CSF and CJF to examine the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of mixture of CSF and CJF (3 : 1), as well as the molecular mechanism underlying these effects. Cell viability assay, nuclear staining, DNA fragmentation, caspase assay, cytochrome c release, were utilized to dissect the signaling pathways. In mixture of CSF and CJF (3 : 1), CSF appeared most anticancer effect by both MTT assays and the cleavage analysis of apoptosis-related molecules and PARP. Interestingly, we found that CJF make it possible to express the apotosis inducing by CSF in a short time and apoptosis effect of CSF maintained sustainable. Conclusion : In summary, our results from this study suggest that in HT-29 human colon cancer cells (i) CSF treatment causes damage to mitochondria, and (ii) CJF contributed CSF induced apoptotic cell death mediates cytochrome C release, (ⅲ) mixture of CSF and CJF (3 : 1) the potential to function as a chemopreventive agent against colon cancer.

Backgrounds : Camellia sinensis is known to have a very high antioxidant activity, but its petals are small and it is difficult to use it because of its low yield. In comparison Camellia japonica has many petals and yield, however, the biological effects of C. japonica have been less frequently studied. In the present study, we focused on investigating the in vitro antioxidant effect of the ethanol extract from flower of C. sinensis (CSF), C. japonica (CJF) and mixture of CSF and CJF. Methods and Results : Content of total phenolics and total flavonid, DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activities, reducing power, superoxide anion and hydroxy radical scavenging activity of CSF and CJF were compared in vitro experimetal models. Total phenolics was contained the higer in CJF (172.19±1.65 mgCAE/gEX) than 146.75±0.15 mgCAE/gEX in CSF. And effects of antioxidant measured by reducing power, superoxide anion generated by xanthine/xanthine oxidase and hydroxyl radical generated by the Fenton reaction (FeSO4 + H2O2) in a cell-free system was shown higher in mixture of CSF and CJF than BHT, ascorbic acid as a chemical oxidant which was detected by electron spin resonance spectrometry coupled with DMPO spin trapping. These results suggest that Camellia flower extract such as CSF and CJF exhibits antioxidant properties by scavenging ROS. Camellia extract contained quercetin, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, quercitrin and kaempferol, which are antioxidant compounds. Conclusion : As a result, the combination of CSF and CJF showed higher antioxidative effect than using CSF or CJF alone.

Background : Plants are the rich source of antioxidants, which plays a very important role in maintaining human health. Their antioxidant property protects cells of different organs of human beings against free radicals and free radical mediated diseases. Even though, there is lack of knowledge on the antioxidant effect of lutein present in plants. In the present study, lutein was isolated from the GreenTea leaves (Camellia sinensis) which is used as a dietary source. Methods and Results : The procedure adopted for the isolation and purification of lutein using acetone extraction and preparative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is simple and less time consuming. Free radicals scavenging activity of isolated lutein from acetone extract of GreenTea was assessed by DPPH radical scavenging assay and reducing power. The isolated lutein scavenged 79% of DPPH radicals at 20 ㎍/㎖ and two fold lower concentration compared to the standard antioxidants (α-tocopherol). No significant differences were found between the reducing power of the lutein and BHT when their concentrations were high. However, significant differences were observed at relatively low concentrations, the reducing power of lutein was isolated from the GreenTea leaves was stronger than those of their acetone extract and standard antioxidants (BHA). Both electron spin resonance (ESR) and in vitro assay confirmed that lutein was isolated from the GreenTea leaves, exhibited a greater capacity for scavenging superoxide (O2 •－) and hydroxyl (OH •) radicals than standard antioxidants β-carotene and α-tocopherol respectively. Conclusion : The results proven that lutein isolated from GreenTea leaves has an efficient antioxidant ability, it could serve as an antioxidant to scavenge reactive oxygen species.

Background : Lutein, a xanthophyll, consists of chains with 8 conjugated double bounds containing closed rings on each end of the chain. This carotenoid is found in fruits and vegetables, especially dark green leafy vegetables such as green tea. In this study, we investigated the anticancer effects of purified lutein from green tea on human cancer cell lines containing prostate carcinoma cancer cells (LNCaP). Methods and Results : Prostate carcinoma cancer cells (LNCaP) were cultured and evaluated the inhibitory effect of lutein isolated from green tea compared other carotenoids (β-carotene and lycopene) on cell proliferation. Cyclin D1 and PCNA were evaluated as cell differentiation. In results, PCNA/cyclin regulates the initiation of cell proliferation by mediating DNA polymerase. Under cultural conditions, lycopene remarkably suppressed the PCNA expression prostate cancer cell line LNCaP in higher doses (20 μM - 100 μM) statistically. However, β-carotene and lutein presented the less inhibitory effects on PCNA expression. Determination of PCNA expression in control and treated cells demonstrates that lycopene did affect proliferation in LNCaP cancer cells in dose-dependent manner. However, β-carotene and lutein suppressed the cyclin D1 expression in dose-dependent manner but no in lycopene group. These results indicate that differ carotenoids presented the various suppressive ability of PCNA and cyclin D1 expression in cell proliferation. Conclusion : In conclusion, lutein suppressed the carcinogenesis of induced prostate cancer cell line by acting as a suppressor for inhibiting the expression of cyclin D.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the flowering and fruits formation characteristics of Korean Panax ginseng varieties. The results will provide basic data for ginseng seed production and breeding program. Methods and Results: The characteristics investigated included flowering date, seed setting rate, seed type and seed production. The ginseng variety Chungsun had the earliest emergency and flowering dates, whereas Sunhyang showed late emergence and flowering dates. The emergence date of Chunpoong was not later than that of the other varieties, but the flowering date was delayed. The seed setting rate was 64.6%, 75.8%, 78.5% and 74.4% for three, four, five and six-year-old varieties, respectively. The ratio of double seed (RD) for Sunhyang and Chungsun were higher than those for the others, whereas the RD for Chunpoong was the lowest. Yunpoong and Sunone had many stems per plant and a high seed production rate. Seed production was 21.7, 67.7, 74.4 and 89.0㎏/ 10 a in three, four, five and six-year-old varieties, respectively. Conclusions: The emergence date ranged from April 15 to 25, and the flowering date was from May 10 to the 19 for the new ginseng varieties. The average seed multiplication of the ginseng varieties was about 8.5 and 21.1 times a year for varieties in which, seed-production occurs once a year for over four years and four times over six years, respectively.

Background : Water uptake and flow across cellular membranes is a fundamental requirement for plant growth and development, and plant water status is important not only for plant growth under favorable conditions but also for ability of a plant to tolerate adverse environmental conditions. Thus identification of plasma membrane water channel genes (aquaporins) in ginseng provides extensive information for functional studies and the development of markers for salinity stress tolerance. Methods and Results : For salinity treatment, the plants were grown for 4 weeks in culture medium gelled with 0.8% Phytoagar, and the old media were replaced with the fresh medium containing NaCl at 0, 50, 100, 200 and 400 mM, respectively. The samples for stress treated and non-stressed plants were collected from 6h to 72h, and frozen immediately into liquid nitrogen. According to the sequence information from the assembled transcripts, four primer pairs were designed from the aquaporin gene regions. In order to determine the pattern of aquaporins expression in ginseng seedlings to salinity stress, we conducted semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Conclusion : A tonoplast intrinsic protein 1 (TIP1)-type aquaporin is not only believed to be essential for plant life, but also to be beneficial for growth under salinity stress. Therefore, a deeper understanding of aquaporin genes in ginseng will be essential for crop improvement, which could help us to understand the molecular genetic basis for the ginseng genetic improvement and also provide the functional genetic resources for selective breeding and transgenic research.

Background : This study was carried out to understand the effect of seedling weight (SW) on growth and flowering in Panax ginseng. Methods and Results : The testing materials were Chunpoong (CP), Yunpoong (YP) and Jakyeongjong (JK). The increase of seedling (1yr) weight led to an increase in ratio of flowering plant and in number of flower per plant. The seed setting rate of two year-old plant (CP, YP, JK) increased with increase of SW at the planting time (PT) and number of flower per plant of three year-old plant (CP, YP) increased also. In the two year-old plant (JK), the ratio of three leaves per plant was 8.8, 19.6, 31.0, 42.0, 44.7 and 58.2%, respectively, in the SW of >0.6, 0.6~0.8, 0.8~1.0, 1.02~1.2, 1.2~1.4 and 1.4g<. The growth of ginseng plant was good with increase of SW at the PT. Conclusion : There was a highly positive correlation between seedling weight and flowering characteristics.

Background : Correct identification of Panax species is important to ensure food quality, safety, authenticity and health for consumers. This paper describes a high resolution melting (HRM) analysis based method using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 5.8S ribosomal DNA barcoding regions as target (Bar-HRM) to obtain barcoding information for the major Panax species and to identify the origin of ginseng plant. Methods and Results : A PCR-based approach, Bar-HRM was developed to discriminate among Panax species. In this study, the ITS1, ITS2, and 5.8S rDNA genes were targeted for testing, since these have been identified as suitable genes for use in the identification of Panax species. The HRM analysis generated cluster patterns that were specific and sensitive enough to detect small sequence differences among the tested Panax species. Conclusion : The results of this study show that the HRM curve analysis of the ITS regions and 5.8S rDNA sequences is a simple, quick, and reproducible method. It can simultaneously identify three Panax species and screen for variants. Thus, ITS1HRM and 5.8SHRM primer sets can be used to distinguish among Panax species.