Lettuce is an important annual leafy vegetable and bitterness is its potent flavor character. Lettuce germplasm differ their phenotypic characters and sesquiterpene lactones (SLs) contents which are important for consumer’s acceptance. This study was carried out to evaluate the phenotypic characters and SLs contents in one hundred lettuce germplasm in Jeonju, Korea. Twenty-three agro-morphological (16 qualitative and 7 quantitative) traits and two SLs (lactucin and lactucopicrin) contents were studied in these germplasm. Germplasm exhibited the variation in qualitative and quantitative characters. Average plant weight was 423.9 g with a range from 116.0 to 905.0 g. Lactucin content was varied from 19.7 (IT 294226) to 194.4 ㎍/g (IT 294298) with an average concentration of 84.7 ㎍/g. Lactucopicrin ranged from 82.5 (IT 300134) to 2228.6 ㎍/g (IT 294210) with an average concentration of 586.3 ㎍/g. Total SLs content was ranged from 120.1 (IT 300134) to 2286.6 (IT 294210) ㎍/g with the average concentration of 671.0 ㎍/g. Significant (p≤0.05) differences were found between crisp head and butter head germplasm for lactucin, lactucopicrin and total SLs content. Crisp head germplasm revealed the highest average lactucin (112.9 ㎍/g), lactucopicrin (734.8 ㎍/g) and total SLs content (847.7 ㎍/g). Crisp head and leafy type germplasm exhibited more total SLs content (847.7 and 744.7 ㎍/g, respectively) than cos (524.9 ㎍/g) and butter head type (519.4 ㎍/g). Principal component analyses of the quantitative traits indicated that the first principal component axis accounted more than 91% of the total variation. This study revealed the ample genetic variation in the agro-morphological traits and SLs contents to support the selection for improved lettuce varieties.

Buckwheat sprouts are a vegetable which provides health benefit with their nutritionally important substances. Buckwheat has been considered as preventive medicine in the last decade. The present study was focused on the reference maps common (Fagopyrum esculentum Möench.) and tatary(Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn.) buckwheat leaf and stem cultured in light and dark condition. Proteins were extracted from 7-day germinated buckwheat sprout sand separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis(2-DE) with isoelectro focusing gel over pH3 to 10. A total of more than 1520 protein spots were revealed on 2-DE gel, in which 165 proteins were identified in the basis of peptide mass fingerprinting. Functional category analysis indicated that these differentially expressed proteins mainly involved in cellular process, defense responsive, energy production, metabolism, photosynthesis, DNA recombination, DNA replication, seed storage, signal transduction, stress responsive, transcription, translation, and energy transport proteins. The pattern at protein level suggested the important roles for energy and protein metabolism-related proteins in growing sprouts under dark and light condition, accompanied by the activated of the stress responsive and growth condition. The proteomic profiling of common and tatary buckwheat will give insight for understanding buckwheat physiology and application to buckwheat industry.

A protocol for the production of transgenic Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer was established via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation of direct somatic embryos. A number of conditions related to the co-cultivation were tested with respect to maximizing transformation efficiency. The results showed that pH of the co-cultivation medium (5.7), the bacterial growth phase (optical density; OD600 = 0.8), co-cultivation period (3 days), and acetosyringone concentration (100 μM) had positive effects on transformation. Selected plantlets were cultured on the medium at an elevated hygromycin level(30 mg/l). Integration of the transgenes into the P. ginseng nuclear genome was confirmed by PCR analysis using hpt primers and by Southern hybridization using hpt-specific probe. The transgenic plantlets were obtained after 3-month cultivation and did not show any detectable variation in morphology or growth characteristics compared to wild-type plants.

An analysis of RAPD-PCR (random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction) was performed with three Angelica species (A. gigas Nakai, A. sinensis (Olive.) Diels and A. acutiloba Kitag) in an effort to distinguish between members of these three species. Two arbitrary primers (OPC02, OPD11) out of80 primers tested, produced 17 species-specific fragments among the three species. Eight fragments were specific for A. sinensis, four fragments specific for A. gigas, five specific for A. acutiloba. When primers OPC02 and OPD11 were used in the polymerase chain reaction, RAPD-PCR fragments that were specific for each of the three species were generated simultaneously. Primer OPC02 produced eight species-specific fragments: four were specific for A. sinensis, one for A. gigas, and three for A. acutiloba. Primer OPD11 produced nine speciesspecific fragments: four for A. sinensis, three for A. gigas, and two for A. acutiloba. The RAPD-PCR markers that were generated with these two primers should rapidly identify members of the three Angelica species. The consistency of the identifications made with these species-specific RAPD-PCR markers was demonstrated by the observation that each respective marker was generated from three accessions of each species, all with different origins. We also performed the RAPD-PCR analysis with the dried Angelica root samples that randomly collected from marketed and from the OPC02 primer, obtained a A. gigasspecific band and the band were cloned and sequenced.

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) is herbaceous perennial plants indigenous to North American forests. This is highly valued as medicinal herbs with a long history of collection from wild populations since 1716. Wild American ginseng distributed from Quebec in Canada to northern Florida in USA. A heavy concentration is found in the Appalachian mountains, although wild American ginseng is considered endangered. The price paid for field cultivated ginseng has dropped dramatically in the past 10 years, while the price for wild or woods cultivated ginseng has rised significantly. The price curve for ginseng resembles a roller coaster, reflecting not only supply and demand but many other factors. This information will be useful to understand American ginseng compared to Korean ginseng.