“고강”은 고품질･내병･다수성 지황 개발을 목표로 지황1호 실생 집단에서 우량 개체를 선발, 증식을 거친 후 2001～’02년 생산력 검정시험을 실시하였다. 그 결과 고품질이면서 병해에 강하고수량성이높아수원7호로계통명을부여한후, 2003～’05년까지 3년간 지역적응시험을 실시한 결과 우수성이 인정되어 2005년 12월 직무육성 품종 심의회를 거쳐 “고강”으로 명명하였는바 그 주요특성을 요약하면 다음과 같다. 1. 고강의 초형은 지면에서 약간 솟아오르는 형태를 나타내며, 생육중기 완전 전개된 잎중 가장 어린잎들의 색깔은 안토시아닌 색소를 거의 띠지 않아 대비품종과 구별된다. 2. 고강은 지황1호에 비하여 잎이 크고 많으며, 뿌리가 굵고 길다. 3. 고강은 병에 대한 저항성도 비교적 강하여 생산의 안정성이 높은 품종이다. 4. 고강은 2003～’05년까지 3년간 실시한 지역적응시험결과 수원 등 3지역에서 모두 증수되는 것으로 나타났고, 3지역의 10a당 평균 수량은 1,186kg로 지황1호 대비 13% 증수하였다. 5. 고강은 지황의 주요성분인 catalpol과 엑스함량이 지황1호에 비하여 많은 고품질 품종이다.

Objectives Here, we report the effect of overexpression of ginseng farnesyl diphosphate synthase on the transcription of three key regulatory enzymes involved in triterpene metabolism in hairy root of ginseng and Centella asiatica (L.) Urban. Materials and Methods A four-year-old root of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer and Centella asiatica (L.) Urban whole plants were obtained from National Institute of Crop Science (Suwon, Korea) and Chonnam National University (Gwangju, Korea), respectively. Agrobacterium rhizogenes R1000 strain was kindly provided by Dr. In (Nongwoo Bio, Yeju, Korea). Results and Discussion The role of farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS) in triterpene biosynthesis (Fig. 1) was investigated. A pCAMBIA3101 vector was used to insert a exogenous gene into target plant genome (Fig. 2). After the transformation, we produced Panax ginseng and Centella asiatica hairy roots by introducing the coding region of the gene from Panax ginseng. In these hairy roots, integration of the transgenes into the C. asiatica nuclear genome was confirmed by PCR analysis using PgFPS (P. ginseng FPS) primers and by Southern hybridization using PgFPS-specific probe. FPS specific activity is increased 4-fold compared to controls. In RT-PCR analysis, overexpression of PgFPS in hairy roots was observed (Fig. 3) and two genes, cycloartenol and beta-amyrin synthase, related to triterpene biosynthesis were up-regulated. These results suggest that FPS overexpression might lead to an enhanced biosynthesis of triterpene saponins and phytosterols. However, we did not demonstrate whether or not the introduction of PgFPS gene in Centella asiatica genome directly enhances triterpene saponin production, although our results showed that gene expression related to triterpene saponin biosynthesis were obviously up-regulated. Therefore, additional experiments such as overexpression of FPS gene in triterpene saponin-deficient mutant plants will be required.

This study was carried out to investigate spectral irradiance characteristics of blue, yellow, and blue-black colored polyethylene (PE) shading net and the effect on growth characteristics and yield in ginseng seedling. The spectral irradiance (μmol/m2/s/nm) showed the peak at 498 nm in both of blue and blue-black PE shading net, and 606 nm under yellow PE one. The intensity of blue light in blue shading was more strong than that of blue-black shading, control. Blue shading was increased by 17% and 23% in accumulated quantum for daytime, 0.5℃ and 0.2℃ in maximum temperature on June 2 than that of yellow and blue-black shading, respectively, but heat injury ratio of the former was lower than that of the latter. Chlorophyll content and stem length in blue shading were decreased more significantly than those of yellow and blue-black shading. The specific leaf weight was higher under blue and yellow shading than that of blue-black shading. Ginseng seedling harvested in blue shading was increased by 13~17% in the number of root, and 17~20% in root weight per m 2 compared to yellow and blue-black shading owing to the increase of survived plant, and the decrease of specific leaf weight, heat injury ratio, and stem length.

Tissue culture systems to optimize regeneration plant species of Ocimum spp were evaluated as a method to micropropagate individual plants and to better study their biology in vitro. Ocimum species were also evaluated for the production of natural plant products during and following the regeneration process. The primary goal of this project was to enhance the regeneration efficiency of basil. Several factors were examined using different Ocimum species and commercial varieties. The effect of cytokinin combination, activated charcoal, gelling agents, and different carbon sources were investigated. Anthocyanin callus spots were produced only in four varieties among six tested. 'Sweet Dani' showed the best results on anthocyanin accumulation, while 'African beauty', 'Tree basil' and 'Methylcinnamate' produced only a few spots. Shoot regeneration was only achieved from 'Sweet Dani' explants. As the activated charcoal concentration increased, callus formation rate decreased respectively compare to the controls for all varieties. There was a decrease in callus growth with increasing concentration of agar and phytagel.

This study was carried out to develop convenient and reproducible methods for identifying the genetic relationship among germplasms of Panax species based on molecular genetics. Using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analyses, genetic polymorphism of the Panax species was investigated with following cultivars and accessions, such as Chunpoong, Yunpoong, Kopoong, Sunpoong, and Kumpoong in domestic cultivars, Hwangsuk, Jakyung and Suckju in domestic accessions, and Panax quinquefolius L. and Panax japonicus C.A. Meyer in foreign introduced accessions, respectively. Specific DNA fragments ranging from 200 to 3,000 base pairs in size could be obtained with various ISSR and RAPD primers under the optimized PCR conditions. The dissimilarity coefficients among the genetic polymorphisms of ginseng cultivars and accessions were calculated from 0.26 to 0.90 in RAPD and from 0.12 to 0.89 in ISSR analysis, respectively. Eleven plant samples were grouped siblings together with cultivars and parents based on cluster analysis of genetic distance depending on genetic property such as origin of the species. In results, both RAPD and ISSR analyses were useful for identifying the genetic relationship among cultivars and accessions of Panax species at DNA level.

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.

Myristica fragrans seed from Myristica fragrans Houtt (Myristicaceae) has various pharmacological activities peripherally and centrally. The present study aims to investigate the effect of the methanol extract of Myristica fragrans seed (MF) on kainic acid (KA)-induced neurotoxicity in primary cultured rat cerebellar granule neuron. MF, over a concentration range of 0.05 to 5 μg/ml inhibited KA (500 μM)-induced neuronal cell death, which was measured by trypan blue exclusion test and 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. MF (0.5 mug/ml) inhibited glutamate release into medium induced by KA (500 μM), which was measured by HPLC. Pretreatment of MF (0.5 mug/ml) inhibited KA (500 μM)-induced elevation of cytosolic calcium concentration ([Ca2+]c), which was measured by a fluorescent dye, Fura 2-AM, and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These results suggest that MF prevents KA-induced neuronal cell damage in vitro.

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of medicinal plants on ethanol-metabolism. Sprague Dawley rats divided into 6 groups (n=8), fed with 10% ethanol and diets supplemented with each 1% of four plant extracts, α-tocopherol (as positive control) and fiber (as negative control) for 4 weeks. Group supplemented with plant extract of Ulmus davidiana showed the most high value (322 nM NADH/min/mg protein) in alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity among the experimented groups (144~312 nM NADH/min/mg protein) at p〈0.05. Groups fed with Lagerstroemia indica and Zelkova serrata extract-supplemented diets indicated high activity in aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH, 16.7 & 12.3 M NADH/min/mg protein), which were comparatively lower than 20.1 M NADH/min/mg protein of α-tocopherol fed group. All of the groups fed with plant extracts indicated very low GPT activities (13.9~17.3 IU/l) compared to those (146.1 & 128.6 IU/l) fed with α-tocopherol and fiber at p〈0.05. From these results, it is suggested that Lagerstroemia indica have a potent ethanol-metabolizing activity.

Polygalae Radix (PR) from Polygala tenuifolia. (Polygalaceae) is traditionally used in China and Korea, since this herb has a sedative, antiinflammatory, and antibacterial agent. To extend pharmacological actions of PR in the CNS on the basis of its CNS inhibitory effect, the present study examined whether PR has the neuroprotective action against kainic acid (KA) -induced cell death in primarily cultured rat cerebellar granule neurons. PR, over a concentration range of 0.05 to 5μg/ml inhibited KA (500 μM)-induced neuronal cell death, which was measured by a trypan blue exclusion test and a 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-y1]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. PR (0.5μg/ml) inhibited glutamate release into medium induced by KA (500 μM), which was measured by HPLC. Pretreatment of PR (0.5μg/ml) inhibited KA (500 μM)-induced elevation of cytosolic calcium concentration ([Ca2+]c) which was measured by a fluorescent dye, Fura 2-AM, and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These results suggest that PR prevents KA-induced neuronal cell damage in vitro.

To identify the variation of the RAPD patterns between two Atractylodes species, 52 kinds of random primers were applied to each eight of A japonica and A. macrocephala genomic DNA. Ten primers of 52 primers could be used to discriminate between the species and 18 polymorphisms among 67 scored DNA fragments (18 fragments are specific for A. japonica and A. macrocephala) were generated using these primers, 26.9% of which were polymorphic. RAPD data from the 10 primers was used for cluster analysis. The cluster analysis of RAPD markers showed that the two groups are genetically distinct. On the other hand, to identify the variation of the AFLP patterns and select the species specific AFLP markers, eight combinations of EcoRI/MseI primers were applied to the bulked A. japonica and A. macrocephala genomic DNA. Consequently, three combinations of EcoRI/MseI primers (EcoRI /Mse I ; AAC/CTA, AAC/CAA, AAG/CTA) used in this study revealed 176 reliable AFLP markers, 42.0% of which were polymorphic. 74 polymorphisms out of 176 scored DNA fragments were enough to clearly discriminate between two Atractylodes species.

Astragalus membranaceus has flowers that are similar to that of the legume family, but shows poor bearing when self-pollination is induced. Thus, this study was carried out observing the ripening procedure of pistils and stamens and development stages of pollen in the context of the birth and growth of the flower. As to the bearing of the flower of A. membranaceus, few pod setting and 13% pod setting were observed when self-pollination is induced by paper-bag covering or artificial pollination treated respectively. The result indicates that A. membranaceus is a cross-pollination plant. A pistil grew faster than a stamen until just before blooming. The flower size was about 17.0mm~times 4.0mm. Pistils and stamens had the same length after flowering. Pollen mother cells passed through meiosis and mitosis when its length reached around 3.5mm, thus creating the tetrade when 4 mm long. Pollen attained full growth when the bud was about 10mm long. An anther was found to tend to dehisce when the length of a bud reached around 12.0mm. As to the shape of pollen, about 70 % were normal. 1% and 30 % were small or empty pollen respectively. The result indicates that pollen of A. membranaceus attains full growth just before anther dehiscence which occurs before blooming while pistils grow faster than stamens until before flowering