Induction of Ginseng Hairy Roots And Their Possible Application To Large Scale Culture

Ginseng(Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) is important medicinal plant but requires 4-year cultivation for root harvest because of slow growth. In contrast, ginseng hairy roots induced by introducing Ri-plasmid of Agrobacterium rhizogenes into genomic DNA of plant cells show vigorous growth, and the hairy roots produce the same or more saponins than natural ginseng roots. Therefore, hairy roots can be used for commercial purposes. The present study was carried out to induce hairy roots with both active growth and high saponin contents. Numerous hairy roots of Panax ginseng were obtained after root disks of three-year old roots were infected with Agrobacterium rhizogenes R1000 A4T in dark condition after one month of culture. About 3 hundred lines of hairy roots were selected according as morphological characters on medium with carbenicillin. After pre-selection of fifteen lines of hairy roots with active growth, KGHR-l and KGHR-8 lines were finally selected which had characters of high content of ginsenoside-Rd and ginsenoside-Re, respectively. The optimum growth of hairy roots was achieved in the culture of 1/2 MS liquid medium in dark (22 $^{\circ}C$) under 60 rpm gyratory shaking. Hairy roots grew well in 5L Erlenmeyer flasks, lL roller drums, 10L jar-fermenters, and especially in 20L air-lift culture vessels.