• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.359-366
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• 2005

Effects of neutron beam irradiation on seed germination, growth and RAPD pattern of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv.; N. plumbaginifolia) and rice (Orya sativa L. cv.) plants were estimated. Seed germination rate was not significantly changed by the neutron beam treatment in both tobacco and rice seeds. And there was no significant differance in growth of the plants by the neutron beam treatment. Interestingly, however, some of morphological changes, including leaf shape (about $36\%$), stem color and leaf color were observed in neutron beam treated tobacco plants. In addition, abnormal flower in petal was observed in the neutron beam treated plant. This results indicate that neutron beam is able to use as an effective mutagen in plant mutations. Scorable products from 20 primers were obtained by RAPD analysis in the leaves of the beam irradiated tobacco plants and most of the plants showed the similar band patterns.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.130-136
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• 1999

The cytotoxic and antitumor activity of Herba cratalariae sessiliflorae on cultured NIH 3T3 fibroblast and human oral epitheloid carcinoma cells were evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazoliumbromide (MTT) colorimetric method. The light microscopic study was carried out to observe morphological changes of cultured mouse fibroblast and human oral epitheloid carcinoma cells (KB). These results were obtained as follows; Ethyl acetate, chloroform and hexane extracts showed a significant cytotoxicity in NIH 3T3 fibroblast, but the other extracts did not show. All extracts exhibited a significant antitumor activity in human oral epitheloid carcinoma cells, but ethanol extract did not show a antitumor activity. Hexane extract showed low cytotoxic effect, but exhibited the most antitumor activity. The MTT absorbance in NIH 3T3 fibroblast was significantly decreased by treatment with chloroform, ethyl acetate and hexane extracts respectively. Human oral epitheloid carcinoma cells was significantly decreasd by treatment with all extracts with the exception of ethanol extract. The difference in MTT absorbance in two cell Types was most remarkable when treated with water and hexane extracts. Cholroform and hexane extracts showed the strongest effect in growth inhibition of human oral epitheloid carcinoma cells. These results indicated that water extract possessed no cytotoxicity and a strong antitumor activity.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.167-172
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• 2007

A tomato zinc-finger protein gene, LeZFP1, encoding the Cys2/His2-type zinc-finger transcription factor was searched from cDNA microarray analysis of gene expression following induction of the overexpressed tomato transgenic plants showing resistance for pathogen and abiotic stresses. The full-length cDNA of LeZFP1 encoded a protein of 261 amino acid residues. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of LeZFP1 revealed that it shares high sequence identity with pepper CAZFP1 (81% identity). We found that single copy of LeZFP1 gene is present in the tomato genome through southern blot analysis. The LeZFP1 transcripts were constitutively expressed in the tomato mature and young leaves, but were detectable weakly in the flower, stem and root. The LeZFP1 transcripts were significantly reduced in treated leaf tissues with NaCl and mannitol. The LeZFP1 gene was induced by oxidative stress especially. Our results indicated that LeZFP1 may play a role function involved in oxidative stress signaling pathways.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.197-204
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• 2007

The present study focused on the establishment of micropropagation protocol for the high value Pluchea (P.) indica (L.) Less., genotype, an important medicinal plant and evaluation of the diuretic activity of the leaf extract of the tissue cultured plant. Leaf explants, nodal segments and shoot tips were cultured in MS medium supplemented with auxin and cytokinin and their combinations. With the objective of inducing callus giving rise to new adult plants, naphthalene acetic acid was found to be most effective for (80%) for callus induction. The methanolic extract of leaves of the micropropagated P. indica was investigated for its diuretic activity in Wistar albino rats. Urinary excretion parameters were studied for evaluation of diuretic activity using Frusemide (20 mg/kg, p.o.) as standard. The extract showed significant diuretic activity at the doses of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg. p.o. An oral acute toxicity study for the extract was carried out and the $LD_{50}$ value was found to be 2,825 mg/kg body weight.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.9-12
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• 2009

Artemisia capillaris and Artemisia iwayomogi are weeds used as medicinal plants in Korea under the name "Injin". I collected leaves of A. capillaris and A. iwayomogi, examined them for phytotoxic effects from volatile substances and determined the composition of monoterpenes in the leaves. The effects of volatile substances from each species on seed germination and radicle elongation in each of the two Artemisia species were assessed. The volatile substances of A. capillaris did not negatively affect the seed germination of A. capillaris, but they did inhibit radicle elongation. Rates of seed germination of A. iwayomogi decreased when the seeds were exposed to high concentration of A. capillaris volatile substances. The inhibition of seed germination and radicle elongation by volatile substances from both Artemisia species was stronger for A. iwayomogi than for A. capillaris. I identified the monoterpenoids from the leaves with a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The main constituents of A. capillaris were acenaphthylene (37.91%), $\beta$-pinene (12.08%), 4-carene (10.61%) and $\gamma$-curcumene (9.92%), while those of A. iwayomogi were germacrene-$\delta$ (32.15%), borneol (21.24%), camphor (20.45%) and trans-caryophyllene (7.75%).

• BMB Reports
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.338-343
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• 2008

Dehydrins (DHNs) compose a family of intrinsically unstructured proteins that have high water solubility and accumulate during late seed development at low temperature or in water-deficit conditions. They are believed to play a protective role in freezing and drought-tolerance in plants. A full-length cDNA encoding DHN (designated as ClDhn) was isolated from an oriental medicinal plant Codonopsis lanceolata, which has been used widely in Asia for its anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. The full-length cDNA of ClDhn was 813 bp and contained a 477 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polypeptide of 159 amino acids. Deduced ClDhn protein had high similarities with other plant DHNs. RT-PCR analysis showed that different abiotic stresses such as salt, wounding, chilling and light, triggered a significant induction of ClDhn at different time points within 4-48 hrs post-treatment. This study revealed that ClDhn assisted C. lanceolata in becoming resistant to dehydration.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.390-395
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• 2012

Oleanolic acid (OA), a triterpenoid known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, is commonly present in several medicinal plants but its anticoagulant activities have not been studied. Here, the anticoagulant properties of OA were determined by monitoring activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), prothrombin time (PT), fibrin polymerization as well as cell-based thrombin and activated factor X (FXa) generation activities. Data showed OA prolonged aPTT and PT significantly and inhibited thrombin catalyzed fibrin polymerization. In addition, OA inhibited the activities of thrombin and FXa and inhibited the generation of thrombin or FXa in human endothelial cells. OA also inhibited TNF-${\alpha}$-induced tissue factor expression on human endothelial cells. In accordance with these anticoagulant activities, OA showed an anticoagulant effect in vivo. These results indicate that OA possesses antithrombotic activities and suggest that daily consumption of a herb containing OA may be preventing thrombosis in pathological states.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.284-289
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• 1999

In order to find active ingradients having an agonistic activity to benzodiazepine receptor from Gastrodia elata Blume (Orchidaceae) which has been used as an anticonvulsant in oriental medicine, one component and some fractions were separated from the butanol extract of the rhizomes of this plant and evaluated for their activities on GABA/benzodiazepine receptor in vitro. As a result, one crude mixture (F4f) obtained from the most active fraction (F4) inhibited significantly the binding of $[^3H]Ro15-1788$, a selective benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, to benzodiazepine receptor of rat cortices. GABA significantly enhanced the inhibition of $[^3H]flunitrazepam$ binding by F4f, and this positive GABA shift supported the strong possibility of the agonistic activity of F4f to benzodiazepine receptor.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.04a
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• pp.5-5
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• 2018

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer), one of the most widely used medicinal plants in traditional oriental medicine, is used for the treatment of various diseases. It has been classified according to its cultivation environment, such as field cultivated ginseng (FCG) and mountain cultivated ginseng (MCG). However, little is known about differences in gene expression in ginseng roots between field cultivated and mountain cultivated ginseng. In order to investigate the whole transcriptome landscape of ginseng, we employed High-Throughput sequencing technologies using the Illumina HiSeqTM2500 system, and generated a large amount of sequenced transcriptome from ginseng roots. Approximately 77 million and 87 million high-quality reads were produced in the FCG and MCG roots transcriptome analyses, respectively, and we obtained 256,032 assembled unigenes with an average length of 1,171 bp by de novo assembly methods. Functional annotations of the unigenes were performed using sequence similarity comparisons against the following databases: the non-redundant nucleotide database, the InterPro domains database, the Gene Ontology Consortium database, and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway database. A total of 4,207 unigenes were assigned to specific metabolic pathways, and all of the known enzymes involved in starch and sucrose metabolism pathways were also identified in the KEGG library. This study indicated that alpha-glucan phosphorylase 1, putative pectinesterase/pectinesterase inhibitor 17, beta-amylase, and alpha-glucan phosphorylase isozyme H might be important factors involved in starch and sucrose metabolism between FCG and MCG in different environments.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.166-171
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• 2017

We have studied the antifungal effect of 19 medicinal plants with paper disc diffusion method against candida albicans. As a result, Sanguisorba officinalis L., Cinnamomum cassia, Rheum coreanum, Perilla frutescens and Eugenia caryophyllata have been found to be effective against C. albicans. Among these, Sanguisorba officinalis L. was most effective at 24 hours and 48 hours. Its clear zone diameter was 17 mm for 24 hours and 16 mm for 48 hours. The antifungal activity of the solvent fraction of Sanguisorba officinalis L. by n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol was the best for the chloroform fraction of 28 mm for 24 hours and 18 mm for 48 hours. The MIC concentration of the chloroform fraction was $80{\mu}g/50{\mu}l$ at 24 hours and $240{\mu}g/50{\mu}l$ at 48 hours.