• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 2022

Cruciferous vegetables are rich in biologically active compounds such as glucosinolates and have various health benefits. Among these vegetables, Kimchi cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. Pekinensis) is one of the most popular leafy vegetables due to the presence of the highest amounts of numerous vital phytonutrients, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. This study aims to investigate the effects of six cultivars (Chundong 102, Asia No Rang Mini, Hwimori Gold, Asia Seoul, Wol Dong Chun Chae, and Asia Bbu Ri) on hairy root induction and glucosinolate biosynthesis in the hairy root cultures of Kimchi cabbage. Seven different glucosinolates, in this case sinigrin, gluconapin, glucoerucin, glucobrassicin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin, gluconasturtiin, and neoglucobrassicin, were detected in the hairy root cultures of Kimchi cabbage. Among the different cultivars, Asia No Rang Mini was the most promising candidate for hairy root stimulation, as it achieved the highest values for the growth rate, root number, root length, transformation efficiency, and total glucosinolate content. Overall, the Asia No Rang Mini cultivar of Kimchi cabbage performed best as a promising cultivar hairy root culture for glucosinolate production.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.730-738
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to evaluate glucosinolate (GSL) profiles and variation of total and individual GSLs concentrations within seedling (0-14 days) and growth stages (0-15 weeks) of Korean Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis). Ten GSLs (progoitrin, glucoraphanin, glucoalyssin, gluconapin, glucobrassicanapin, 4-hydroxyglucobrassin, glucobrassicin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin, neoglucobrassicin and gluconasturtiin) were identified from Korean Chinese cabbage. In general, total GSL content significantly decreased during seedling (from 92.89 to $35.26{\mu}mol{\cdot}g^{-1}$ DW) and g rowth stages ( from 74.11 to $1.97{\mu}mol{\cdot}g^{-1}$ DW). Gluconapin was the highest in seeds and in the germination period ($73.1{\mu}mol{\cdot}g^{-1}$ DW) and declined gradually from 73 to 15% during seedling stages. The level of the major aliphatic GSLs, gluconapin and progoitrin, tended to decrease sharply, whereas levels of indolic GSLs (4-methoxyglucobrassicin, glucobrassicin) and aromatic GSLs (gluconasturtiin) were found to increase generally at the beginning of growth stages.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.300-307
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• 2006

Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis (Chinese cabbage) is an economically important crop and a model plant for studies on polyploidization and phenotypic evolution. To gain an insight into the structure of the B. rapa genome we analyzed 12,017 BAC-end sequences for the presence of transposable elements (TEs), SSRs, centromeric satellite repeats and genes, and similarity to the closely related genome of Arabidopsis thaliana. TEs were estimated to occupy 14% of the genome, with 12.3% of the genome represented by retrotransposons. It was estimated that the B. rapa genome contains 43,000 genes, 1.6 times greater than the genome of A. thaliana. A number of centromeric satellite sequences, representing variations of a 176-bp consensus sequence, were identified. This sequence has undergone rapid evolution within the B. rapa genome and has diverged among the related species of Brassicaceae. A study of SSRs demonstrated a non-random distribution with a greater abundance within predicted intergenic regions. Our results provide an initial characterization of the genome of B. rapa and provide the basis for detailed analysis through whole-genome sequencing.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.349-356
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• 2007

Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) represent short tandem duplications found within all eukaryotic organisms. To examine the distribution of SSRs in the genome of Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis, SSRs from different genomic regions representing 17.7 Mb of genomic sequence were surveyed. SSRs appear more abundant in non-coding regions (86.6%) than in coding regions (13.4%). Comparison of SSR densities in different genomic regions demonstrated that SSR density was greatest within the 5'-flanking regions of the predicted genes. The proportion of different repeat motifs varied between genomic regions, with trinucleotide SSRs more prevalent in predicted coding regions, reflecting the codon structure in these regions. SSRs were also preferentially associated with gene-rich regions, with peri-centromeric heterochromatin SSRs mostly associated with retrotransposons. These results indicate that the distribution of SSRs in the genome is non-random. Comparison of SSR abundance between B. rapa and the closely related species Arabidopsis thaliana suggests a greater abundance of SSRs in B. rapa, which may be due to the proposed genome triplication. Our results provide a comprehensive view of SSR genomic distribution and evolution in Brassica for comparison with the sequenced genomes of A. thaliana and Oryza sativa.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.235-239
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• 2004

We studied the effect of genotype, explant, age of explant, medium (plant growth regulators and gelling agents), and standardized an efficient regeneration protocol for inbred lines of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis). Of the different concentrations of NAA and BA tested, the combination of $5\;\cal{mg/L}\;BA\;and\;0.5\;\cal{mg/L}$ NAA gave the highest frequency of shoot regeneration. The cotyledonary explants had more shoot regeneration frequency ($\ge40\%$) than the hypocotyl ex-plants. Besides, the cotyledonary explants, excised from the 4-day old seedlings, showed higher shoot regene-ration ($56.7\%$). Of the three gelling agents and their concentrations used, 16 g/L agar was found to be the best for shoot regeneration. Shoot regeneration frequency in-creased significantly by supplementing the medium with $4\;\cal{mg/L}\;of\;AgNO_3$ MS medium devoid of NAA showed higher frequency of rooting in the regenerated shoots than the ones supplemented with NAA. Our improved regeneration protocol will be especially useful for the genetic transformation of Chinese cabbage inbred lines to develop transgenic hybrids.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.532-543
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• 2020

This experiment was conducted to assess the high antioxidant activity varieties of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) from the 55 accessions. The antioxidant activity of Chinese cabbage were determined by the TPC, TFC, DPPH, ABTS, and chlorophyll, carotenoid contents. The TPC and TFC showed a range of 1.21~4.61 mg GAE/g DW, 0.18~3.09 mg CE/g DW. The DPPH and ABTS assay were in the range of 0.65~4.36 and 1.42~6.91 mg ascorbic acid equivalent (ASCE)/g DW, respectively. The UPLC analysis was performed quantitatively to identify chlorophyll and carotenoid in the Chinese cabbage extract. The levels of the total chlorophyll and total carotenoid were 86.60~1,235.91, and 75.86~490.11 ㎍/g, respectively. The comprehensive differences in the total and individual chlorophyll contents have also been observed among different varieties. These results will be valuable as basic data for the standardization of Chinese cabbage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.12-12
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• 2002

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.323-332
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• 2017

Homology-specific transcriptional and post-transcriptional silencing, an intrinsic mechanism of gene regulation in most eukaryotes, can be induced by anti-sense, co-suppression, or hairpin-based double-stranded RNA. Hairpin-based RNA interference (RNAi) has been applied to analyze gene function and genetically modify crops. However, RNAi vector construction usually requires high-cost cloning steps and large amounts of time, or involves methods that are protected by intellectual property rights. We describe a more effective method for generating intron-spliced RNAi constructs. To produce intron-spliced hairpin RNA, an RNAi cassette was ligated with the first intron and splicing sequences of the Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis histone deacetylase 1 gene. This method requires a single ligation of the PCR-amplified target gene to SpeI-NcoI and SacI-BglII enzyme sites to create a gene-specific silencing construct. We named the resulting binary vector system pKHi and verified its functionality by constructing a vector to silence DIHYDROFLAVONOL 4-REDUCTASE (DFR), transforming it into tobacco plants, and confirming DFR gene-silencing via PCR, RT-qPCR, and analysis of the accumulation of small interfering RNAs. Reduction of anthocyanin biosynthesis was also confirmed by analyzing flower color of the transgenic tobacco plants. This study demonstrates that small interfering RNAs generated through the pKHi vector system can efficiently silence target genes and could be used in developing genetically modified crops.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.242-250
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• 2015

Insertional mutagenesis induced by T-DNA or transposon tagging offers possibilities for analysis of gene function. However, its potential remains limited unless good methods for detecting the target locus are developed. We describe a PCR technique for efficient identification of DNA sequences adjacent to the inserted T-DNA in a higher plant, Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis). This strategy, which we named variable argument thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR (VA-TAIL PCR), was designed by modifying a single-step annealing-extension PCR by including a touch-up PCR protocol and using long gene-specific primers. Amplification efficiency of this PCR program was significantly increased by employing an autosegment extension method and linked sequence strategy in nested long gene-specific primers. For this technique, arbitrary degenerate (AD) primers specific to B. rapa were designed by analyzing the Integr8 proteome database. These primers showed higher accuracy and utility in the identification of flanking DNA sequences from individual transgenic Chinese cabbages in a large T-DNA inserted population. The VA-TAIL PCR method described in this study allows the identification of DNA regions flanking known DNA fragments. This method has potential biotechnological applications, being highly suitable for identification of target genomic loci in insertional mutagenesis screens.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.745-752
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• 2014

Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) is an economically important vegetable crop as a source of the traditional food Kimchi in Korea. Although many varieties exhibiting desirable traits have been developed by the conventional selective breeding approach, breeding related to abiotic or biotic stresses, such as a particular pests or diseases, or tolerance to climatic conditions, is likely to be slow. This could be helped by an efficient method for selection from various, rapidly-evolved genetic resources on the basis of molecular markers. In particular, the Brassica genome sequencing project enables genome-wide discovery of genes or genetic variants associated with agricultural traits. We here discuss the recent progress in the field of Chinese cabbage breeding with regard to the application of molecular markers.