Eleutherococcus senticosus (Siberian ginseng) is an important medicinal tree found in northeast Asia. In this study, we analyzed the genome-wide distribution of microsatellites in E. senticosus. By sequencing 711 clones from an SSR-enriched genomic DNA library, we obtained 12 polymorphic SSR markers, which also revealed successful amplicons in E. senticosus accessions. Using the developed SSR markers, we estimated genetic diversity and population structure among 131 E. senticosus accessions in Korea and China. The number of alleles ranged from 2 to 11, with an average of 7.4 alleles. The mean values of observed heterozygosity (HO) and expected heterozygosity (HE) were 0.59 and 0.56, respectively. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.51 in all 131 E. senticosus accessions. E. senticosus accessions in Korea and China showed a close genetic similarity. Significantly low pairwise genetic divergence was observed between the two regions, suggesting a relatively narrow level of genetic basis among E. senticosus accessions. Our results not only provide molecular tools for genetic studies in E. senticosus but are also helpful for conservation and E. senticosus breeding programs.

This study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant activity in the leaves and stems of 50 tomato accessions, in order to examine the possibility of using tomato by-products as a functional material. The extracts of the leaves (LE) and stems (SE) were analyzed for DPPH, ABTS, and total polyphenol content (TPC). Antioxidant activities and TPC differed significantly between the LE and SE of the 50 tomato accessions. TPC in LE and SE showed wide variation, ranging from 24.4 to 60.6 and 12.5 to 18.8 ㎎ GAE/g, respectively. The DPPH and ABTS antioxidant activities of LE ranged from 10.0 to 38.2% (scavenging effect) and 20.8 to 59.0 ㎎ ASC/g, respectively, while the DPPH and ABTS measurements of SE were 1.4 to 8.8% and 2.2 to 22.5 ㎎ ASC/g, respectively. As assessed by the relative antioxidant capacity index (RACI), IT033117 and IT203466 had the highest antioxidant activity in LE and SE, respectively. These results will expand the knowledge of antioxidant activity and provide information on tomato accessions valuable for the development of functional foods and food additives.

Understanding the genetic variation among landrace collections is important for crop improvement and utilization of valuable genetic resources. The present study was carried out to analyse the genetic diversity and associated population structure of 621 foxtail millet accessions of Korean landraces using 22 EST-SSR markers. A total of 121 alleles were detected from all accessions with an average of 5.5 alleles per microsatellite locus. The average values of gene diversity, polymorphism information content, and expected heterozygosity were 0.518, 0.594, and 0.034, respectively. Following the unweighted neighbor-joining method with arithmetic mean based clustering using binary data of polymorphic markers, the genotypes were grouped into 3 clusters, and population structure analysis also separated into 3 populations. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) explained a variation of 13.88% and 10.99% by first and second coordinates, respectively. However, in PCoA analysis, clear population-level clusters could not be found. This pattern of distribution might be the result of gene flow via germplasm exchanges in nearby regions. The results indicate that these Korean landraces of foxtail millet exhibit a moderate level of diversity. This study demonstrated that molecular marker strategies could contribute to a better understanding of the genetic structure in foxtail millet germplasm, and provides potentially useful information for developing conservation and breeding strategies.

The chloroplast (cp) is an organelle with its own genome encoding a number of cp-specific components. The membrane-bound organelles are mainly involved in the photosynthetic conversion of atmospheric CO2 into carbohydrates in which light energy is stored as chemical energy. Resequencing technology via next-generation sequencing has recently been successfully applied which results the field of cp genome characterization is growing fast. Here, we report the complete sequence of the chloroplast genome of Capsicum frutescens, a species of chili pepper. The total length of the genome is 156,817 bp, and the overall GC content is 37.7%. A pair of 51,584-bp inverted repeats (IRs) is separated by a small (17,853 bp) and a large (87,380 bp) single-copy region. The C. frutescens chloroplast genome encodes 103 unique genes, including 79 protein-coding genes, 20 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. Of these, 19 genes are duplicated in the IRs and 18 genes contain one or two introns. Comparative analysis with reference cp genome revealed 125 simple sequence repeat (SSR) motif and 34 variants, mostly located in the non-coding regions. These microsatellite markers will facilitate the studies of genetic diversity, population genetic structure, and sustainable conservation for C. frutescens.

Chloroplast DNA sequences are a versatile tool for species identification and phylogenetic reconstruction of land plants. Different chloroplast loci have been utilized for phylogenetic classification of plant species. However, there is no evidence for a short sequence that can distinguish all plant species from each other. Molecular markers derived from the complete chloroplast genome can provide effective tools for species identification and phylogenetic resolution. Thus, the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Korean landrace “Subicho” pepper (Capsicum annuum var. annuum) has been determined here. The total length of the chloroplast genome is 156,878 bp, with 37.7% overall GC content. A pair of IRs (inverted repeats) of 25,801 bp was separated by a small single copy (SSC) region of 17,929 bp and a large single copy (LSC) region of 87,347 bp. The chloroplast genome harbors 132 known genes, including 87 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNA genes, and 37 tRNA genes. A total of seven of these genes are duplicated in the inverted repeat regions, nine genes and six tRNA genes contain one intron, while two genes and a ycf have two introns. Analysis revealed 144 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci and 96 variants, mostly located in the non-coding regions. The types and abundances of repeat units in Capsicum species were relatively conserved and these loci will be useful for developing molecular markers.

DNA barcoding is the use of short DNA sequences of the genome for large scale species identification. The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) plant-working group recommended the 2-locus combination as the standard plant barcode. The evolutions of the chloroplast regions combine with nuclear gens are sufficiently rapid to allow discrimination between closely related species. We evaluated the efficacy of the proposed plant barcoding loci matK along with ITS2 for barcoding Vigna species. To assess the discrimination ability of barcoding loci to resolve Vigna species, we sampled 52 of the taxonomically best known groups in the genus. Topologies of the phylogenetic trees based on ITS2 and matK analyses were similar but a few accessions were placed into distant phylogenetic groups. Neither ITS2 nor matK analyses were able to discriminate some closely related Vigna species alone. Thus, we used concatenated data to increase the resolving power of ITS2 and used matK as an additional tool for phylogenetic analysis in Vigna because characterization of the nucleotide sequences of matK region was easier to recover and more cost-effective than those of the ITS region.

The volatile and semi-volatile compounds of 5 accessions of domestic and 25 accessions of foreign aroma rice were extracted by solid phase microextraction (SPME) and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrum (GC-MS). A total of 158 volatile and semi-volatile compounds were identified from 30 accessions of aroma rice germplasm, including 32 alcohols, 25 acids, 25 ketones, 21 hydrocarbon, 18 esters, 16 aldehydes, 4 ethers, 5 amines, 2 phenols, 2 bases, and 8 miscellaneous compounds. By UPGMA/Neighbor-join tree analysis, the thirty aroma rice germplasms could be classified into five groups according to the major odor or aroma compounds. Group Ⅰ included Indica type of 'Basmati' varieties. GroupⅡ included Japonica type foreign aroma rice except WAR 16 (domestic aroma rice). GroupⅢ and GroupⅤ included Indica type of Basmati and non-Basmati varities. GroupⅣ included domestic aroma rice except WAR34 and WAR35(Basmati varieties).