• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.245-248
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to evaluate tyrosinase inhibitory activity of plant extracts, especially Korean indigenous plants, for the cosmetic use of skin whitening. When 50 plant extracts were tested, the methanol extracts of Agrimonia pilosa, Aster scaber; Dianthus sinensis, Fatsia japonica, Hemistepta lyrata, Lespedeza cuneata, Osmunda japonicum, Pyrvla japvnica, Rodgersia phodophylla and Veratrum grandiforum possessed the considerable tyrosinase inhibitory activity at 3-300 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL. Especially, L. cuneata, aerial part of O. japonicum and V. gandiforum exhibited the strong inhibition (>50％ inhibition at 300 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL). In particular, the methanol extract of V. grandiforum and its ethylacetate fraction showed potent inhibition ($IC_{50}$/=30 and 13$\mu\textrm{g}$/mL, respectively), while the reference compound, kojic acid, showed $IC_{50}$/ value of 26$\mu\textrm{g}$/mL. These plant extracts may be used as tyrosinase inhibitors in cosmetics.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.372-382
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• 2014

In this study, the chloroplast (cp) genome sequences from three early diverged leptosporangiate ferns were completed and analyzed in order to understand the evolution of the genome of the fern lineages. The complete cp genome sequence of Osmunda cinnamomea (Osmundales) was 142,812 base pairs (bp). The cp genome structure was similar to that of eusporangiate ferns. The gene/intron losses that frequently occurred in the cp genome of leptosporangiate ferns were not found in the cp genome of O. cinnamomea. In addition, putative RNA editing sites in the cp genome were rare in O. cinnamomea, even though the sites were frequently predicted to be present in leptosporangiate ferns. The complete cp genome sequence of Diplopterygium glaucum (Gleicheniales) was 151,007 bp and has a 9.7 kb inversion between the trnL-CAA and trnV-GCA genes when compared to O. cinnamomea. Several repeated sequences were detected around the inversion break points. The complete cp genome sequence of Lygodium japonicum (Schizaeales) was 157,142 bp and a deletion of the rpoC1 intron was detected. This intron loss was shared by all of the studied species of the genus Lygodium. The GC contents and the effective numbers of codons (ENCs) in ferns varied significantly when compared to seed plants. The ENC values of the early diverged leptosporangiate ferns showed intermediate levels between eusporangiate and core leptosporangiate ferns. However, our phylogenetic tree based on all of the cp gene sequences clearly indicated that the cp genome similarity between O. cinnamomea (Osmundales) and eusporangiate ferns are symplesiomorphies, rather than synapomorphies. Therefore, our data is in agreement with the view that Osmundales is a distinct early diverged lineage in the leptosporangiate ferns.