Distribution and Characteristics of Plant Resources of Native Pyrus sp.

Ahn, Young-Hee The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2001 Plant Resources Vol.4 No.3

The wild Pyrus plants belong to the deciduous woody plants in Rosaceae family. Most are cultivated for fruit productions, but some for ornamental plants. There are 5 Pyrus species including Pyrus ussuriensis and 8 varieties cultivated in Korea. In Korea, these plants are populated near villages or on the hills, and they are easily propagated since their fruit are very juicy and quite big in size. Plant breeding to get improved cultivars is not difficult because the Pyrus plants are easy to cross breeding among its genus. Because not only this reason but there have been shown lots of variation in wild groups, the Pyrus plants inhabited in Korea are excellent deciduous woody plants and favorable fruit trees to develop ornamental plants. It is necessary to develop many kinds of fruit trees and ornamental trees containing genetically different character, so that it will be satisfied for many different people's taste and demands. Collecting lots of wild plant resource with diverse genes is necessary for plant breeding.

Effect of Colchicine on Chromosome Doubling in Codonopsis lanceolata

Kwon, Soo-Jeong,Seo, Dong-Yeon,Cho, Gab-Yeon,Lee, Moon-Soon,Moon, Young-Ja,Boo, Hee-Ock,Woo, Sun-Hee,Kim, Hag-Hyun The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2016 한국자원식물학회지 Vol.29 No.3

The present study was performed to investigate the effects of the colchicine concentrations on chromosome doubling for producing of tetraploid plants of Codonopsis lanceolata, and its effect on plant morphology. A total of 180 individuals germinated from 16 treatment groups, were exposed to various concentrations (0.05-1.0% w/v) of colchicine for different soaking duration (3-24 hour). The highest numbers of tetraploid plants (3) were observed from the lowest concentration of colchicine (0.05%), and one (1) tetraploid plant was obtained from the 0.5% concentration group with a 6 hour treatment. However, no tetraploid individual was observed in any other treatment groups. The plant height of the diploid (18.1 ㎝) was slightly shorter than that of the tetraploid (13.4 ㎝). The fresh weight of the main root in the diploid (0.5 g) was four-fold higher than the tetraploid (2.2 g). The colchicine-treated plant regeneration rate in C. lanceolata was decreased when the plants were subjected to high concentration of colchicine. In particular, the highest number of tetraploid plants (5 and 3) was obtained from the lower concentration (0.05% and 0.1%) of colchicine for 6-hour treatment, which were a higher rate (29.4% and 30%) of regenerated tetraploid plants than other regenerated plants. As in the seed treatment result, the plant height of the diploid was significantly higher (10.4 ㎝) than tetraploid. The higher morphological changes were observed comparatively from tetraploid plants than the diploid.

Data Base on Resources of Mushrooms in Korea

Cho, Duck-Hyun,Cho, Won-Kyung The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2001 Plant Resources Vol.4 No.3

Today information is important for man and total fields. Science field is not exception. Currently information age things of information is only useful for man and total industry. So bioinformation is necessary of biodiversity in broadly wide and detailed information. Among information, bioinformation of biodiversity is important and utilization of living things. Among them, the mushroom(higher fungi) are an important part in ecosystem as a decomposer responsible for recycling materials. Many living things today, however, have endangered by environmental pollution and ecological destruction. The higher fungi also are not exception. Mushroom has been used for food sources, pharmacy and forests resources from ancient times. Among biodiversity, database of mushroom is very necessary for university, institute and industry. This DB contains four items of native mushroom(higher fungi) from Korea. first item contain species, genus, family, order class, ad division according to the classification. Second item contain pharmaceutical purpose, food source, culture, toxic, anti-cancer of the application. Third item contain symbiosis, rotten trees of the ecological resources. Fourth item contain geographical distribution and illustrated literature. Information system is also available using KRISTAL II for searches on the WEB in URL http://ruby. kisti. re. kr/∼mushroom.

Effects of Sowing Date on Growth and Yield of Schizonepeta tenuifolia Briquet in Southern Part of Korea

Park, Hee-Jin,Kwon, Byung-Sun The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2001 Plant Resources Vol.4 No.2

This study was carried out to determine the effect of sowing time on the flowering, growth and yield of Schizonepeta tenuifolia Briquet. Emergence and flowering dates in the sowing time from March 30 to April 30 were earlier than those of the other sowing times. In the sowing time from March 30 to April 30, length and diameter of main stem, number of node per main stem, number of branch per plant and fresh, and dry weight of stem were greater than those of the other sowing times. Yield components such as ear length, main stem length and diameter, branches per plant, number of node and ears per plant, yield of stem in fresh and dry were the highest at the sowing time from March 30 to April 30. Optimum sowing time of Schizonepeta tenuifolia Briquet were shown to be from March 30 to April 30 in southern areas of Korea.

Morphological Characteristics and Karyotypic Analysis of Aster spathulifolius According to Native Area

Yoon Pyung-Sub,Park Hye-Mi,Kim Dong-Min,Kim Hyun-Hee The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2005 Plant Resources Vol.8 No.3

The growth charateristics and karyotypes of Aster spathulifolius collected from 5 sites including coastal and island region on the Korean peninsula, were analysed. Several morphological characteristics of the plants such as leaf length, leaf width, top internode, medium internode, spike branching, flower diameter, number of petal, leaf color, leaf form, stem and leaf hair, viscosity, and serration of the plants were distinctly different depending on the native region from which they were collected. Karyotypic analysis showed that the chromosome number was all diploid (2n=18), with one pair of submetacentric satellite chromosomes. The chromosome composition included 7 pairs of metacentric chromosomes and 2 pairs of submetacentric chromosomes in all plants. However, chromosome order and the ranges of the chromosome lengths were a little different from plant to plant according to their native growing regions. The plants from Geoje-Do especially showed large differences in the chromosome lengths between the longest and the shortest compared to the plants from other places. This results provide important data to support the classification of the species into several sub-species.

Tissue Culture Studies in Some Medicinally Important Plants

Kasthuri, G.Mangai The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2001 Plant Resources Vol.4 No.3

Hibiscus cannabinus, Cassia fistula and Abutilon indicum are medicinally important plants in India. Tissue culture studies have done for efficient propagation and for crop improvement in these three plants. Various explants were tried for callus induction, somatic embryogenesis and organagenesis with manipulation in culture media. Calli and somatic embryos were induced from hypocotyl explants in Hibiscus cannabinus, while in Cassia fistula and Abutilon indicum it could be obtained from leaf explants.

Himalayan Medicinal Resources: Present and Future. A Case Study: Andidiabetic Activity of Shilajit

Basnet, Purusotam The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2001 Plant Resources Vol.4 No.3

A major portion of drugs used in Ayurvedic system of medicine which has been practiced since the early human civilization in Indian subcontinent were of plant origin. It should be noted that 70% of the population in this region depends on Ayurveda for their medical treatment and 60% of the drug resources are obtained from the Himalayan region. Therefore, Nepal becomes a potential source of plant drug resource since it occupies a major portion of the Himalaya. In the present paper, in general a current status of medicinal plant resources of Himalayan region especially Nepal will be discussed. In addition to this, a typical example of antidiabetic activity of Shilajit will be taken for the discussion. Shilajit is one of the crucial elements in several formulations including those of Rasayana, a therapy in Ayurveda, which has been practiced in the prevention of ageing and mental disorder. Although, Shilajit is widely used for the treatment of diabetes, no satisfactory scientific reports are available up to now. The crude Shilajit in the market is a dark brown or black rock-like substance collected from the Himalayan region with a strong smell of cow's stale urine. In our studies, Shilajit (collected in the central Himalayan region) prevented the diabetes in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice model. Shilajit also prevented the diabetes in the rats against the action of multiple low-dose (10 mg/kg, i.v., 5 times) of streptozotocin. On the other hand, Shilajit did not show antioxidative activity. The preventive action of Shilajit on diabetes is mainly focused on the Thl and Th2 cell activities, since Th2 cells activity was found to be significantly upregulated. Shilajit, however, showed a mild action in controlling the blood sugar level in young, old, and mild diabetic rats, but not in the severe diabetic rats. It also stimulated the nitric oxide production in macrophages. Based on these evidences, the antidiabetic activities of Shilajit appear to be immunomodulative probably by protecting or strengthening insulin-producing b-cells in the pancreas. Further systematic research on constituents of Shilajit and its quality evaluation is necessary to enable the use of natural medicines in the treatment of diabetes.

The Effects of Korean Cucurbitaceous Plants on the Alkaline Phosphatase Activity Associated with Sonic Hedgehog Pathway

Lee, Hwa Jin The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2013 한국자원식물학회지 Vol.26 No.6

In order to examine the effects of Korean cucurbitaceous plants on sonic hedgehog pathway and growth of cancer cells with over-activated hedgehog pathway, we measured the sonic hedgehog conditioned medium (shh-CM) induced alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and cell viability of pancreatic cancer cell lines by treatment of cucurbitaceous plants. Among the tested cucurbitaceous plants, Actinostemma lobatum Maxim, Cucumis sativus L., Momordica charantia L., Schizopepon bryoniaefolius Maxim and Trichosanthes kirilowii Max, var. japonica Kitam showed the potent inhibitory effects (> 50 % at $20{\mu}g/mL$) on shh-CM induced ALP activity. We also evaluated the cell viability of pancreatic cancer cells treated with the cucurbitaceous plants. The tested cucurbitaceous plants showed the very weak effects on cancer cell proliferation but, T. kirilowii Max, var. japonica Kitam presented the inhibitory effect of 72.7 % on the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells at $20{\mu}g/mL$. Taken together, we screened the effects of Korean cucurbitaceous plants on shh-CM induced ALP activity and cell viability of pancreatic cancers to search for the modulators of the hedgehog pathway leading to the inhibition of cancer cell proliferation. T. kirilowii Max, var. japonica Kitam, among the tested cucurbitaceous plants, showed the inhibitory effects on the shh-CM induced ALP activity and the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells.

In Vitro Assay on Antioxidant Activity and Cytotoxicity of Methanol Extracts from Young Sprouts of Several Korean Salad Plants

Chon, Sang-Uk,Ahn, Chan-Young,Lee, Sook-Young The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2007 한국자원식물학회지 Vol.20 No.6

Antioxidant activity, total phenolics level and cytotoxicity of the methanol extracts from the young sprouts of 5 Korean woody salad plants were determined. Methanol extracts of Kalopanax pictus had the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity, with an $IC_{50}$ value of 23.5mg $100g^{-1}$, and followed by Valeriana fauriei(43.1mg $100g^{-1}$), and Morus alba(>100mg $100g^{-1}$). Total phenolic content showed the highest amount in methanol extracts from Kalopanax pictus(23.7mg $100g^{-1}$), and followed by Valeriana fauriei(22.7mg $100g^{-1}$), Aralia elata(16.8mg $100g^{-1}$) and Morus alba(14.2mg $100g^{-1}$). In a MTT assay, methanol extracts of Aralia elata with $IC_{50}$ values of 151.0 and $140.7{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$ showed the most potent cytotoxicity on Calu-6 and MCF-7, respectively. On the other hand, methanol extracts of Kalopanax pictus($IC_{50}=96.5{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$) showed the highest activity against HCT-116, and followed by those of Aralia elata($123.3{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$), and Actinidia arguta($162.0{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$). Total phenolic content of the tested plant extracts was correlated with the DPPH radical scavenging activity, suggesting the phenolic compounds may contribute to the antioxidant properties of Korean salad plants.

Analysis of Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) Landraces of Korea Using SSR Markers

Song, Jae-Young,Lee, Gi-An,Yoon, Mun-Sup,Ma, Kyung-Ho,Choi, Yu-Mi,Lee, Jung-Ro,Jung, Yeon-Ju,Park, Hong-Jae,Kim, Chung-Kon,Lee, Myung-Chul The Plant Resources Society of Korea 2011 한국자원식물학회지 Vol.24 No.6

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench), one of the minor crops grown in Korea belonging to the Polygonaceae family, is an annual crop widely cultivated in Asia, Europe, and America and has a character of outcrossing and self-incompatibility. The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic variability, phylogenetic relationships and population structure of buckwheat landraces of Korea using SSR markers. Ten microsatellite markers have been detected from a total of 79 alleles among the 179 buckwheat accessions were collected from Korea. The number of allele per marker locus ($N_A$) ranged from 2 (GB-FE-001, GB-FE-043 and GB-FE-055) to 31 (GB-FE-035) with an average of 7.9 alleles. GB-FE-035 was the most polymorphic with the highest PIC value 0.93. Major allele frequencies ($M_{AF}$) for the 10 polymorphic loci varied from 0.12 to 0.97 with a mean allele frequency of 0.57. The expected heterozygosity ($H_E$) values ranged from 0.05 to 0.94 with an average of 0.53. The observed heterozygosity ($H_O$) ranged from 0.06 to 0.92 with an average of 0.42. The overall polymorphic information contents (PIC) values ranged from 0.05 to 0.93 with an average of 0.48. The landrace accessions of buckwheat used in the present study were not distinctly grouped according to geographic distribution. The study concludes that the results revealed genetic differentiation was low according to the geographic region because of outcrossing and self-incompatibility. We reported that our analyses on the genetic diversity of common buckwheat cultivars of Korea were performed by using of microsatellite markers.