The ginsenoside content of berries and roots of three cultivars of Korean ginseng have been investigated. For all cultivars, ginsenoside Re was the most abundant ginsenoside in roots and berries. However, berries produced more total ginsenosides, and berry the ginsenoside profile differed from that of roots. The ginsenoside Re content of berries was 4-6 times more than that of roots. Averaged across all cultivars, the amounts of the five ginsenosides in berries was Re > Rc ≈ Rg1 ≈ Rb1 ≈ Rd. For roots, the amounts were Re > Rg1 > Rb1 > Rc >Rd. Roots of the Yunpoong cultivar had the greatest ginsenoside content, followed by roots of the Chunpoong cultivar and the Gumpoong cultivar. The total amount of ginsenosides (especially Rb1, Re, and Rg1) was greatest in the Yunpoong cultivar.

Aims:  To characterize antifungal principles from the methanol extract of Magnolia obovata and to evaluate their antifungal activities against various plant pathogenic fungi. Methods and Results:  Four neolignans were isolated from stem bark of M. obovata as antifungal principles and identified as magnolol, honokiol, 4‐methoxyhonokiol and obovatol. In mycelial growth inhibition assay, both magnolol and honokiol displayed more potent antifungal activity than 4‐methoxyhonokiol and obovatol. Both magnolol and honokiol showed similar in vivo antifungal spectrum against seven plant diseases tested; both compounds effectively suppressed the development of rice blast, tomato late blight, wheat leaf rust and red pepper anthracnose. 4‐Methoxyhonokiol and obovatol were highly active to only rice blast and wheat leaf rust respectively. Conclusions:  The extract of M. obovata and four neolignans had potent in vivo antifungal activities against plant pathogenic fungi. Significance and Impact of the Study:  Neolignans from Magnolia spp. can be used and suggested as a novel antifungal lead compound for the development of new fungicide and directly as a natural fungicide for the control of plant diseases such as rice blast and wheat leaf rust.

Panax ginseng has long been used as a traditional herbal medicine. More recently, it has received attention for its anti-diabetic and anti-obesity effects in humans and in animal models of type 2 diabetes. In the present study, we tested the hypoglycemic effects of ginseng berry extract in beta-cell-deficient mice and investigated the mechanisms involved. Red (ripe) and green (unripe) berry extracts were prepared and administered orally (100 or 200 mg/kg body weight) to streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice daily for 10 wk. The body weight was measured daily, and the nonfasting blood glucose levels were measured after 5 and 10 wk after administration. Glucose tolerance tests were performed, and the serum insulin levels were measured. The proliferation of betacells was measured in vitro. The administration of red or green ginseng berry extract significantly reduced the blood glucose levels and improved the glucose tolerance in beta-cell deficient mice, with the higher doses resulting in better effects. Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was significantly increased in berry extract-treated mice compared with streptozotocin-induced diabetic control mice. Treatment with ginseng berry extract increased beta-cell proliferation in vitro. Both red berry and green berry extracts improved glycemic control in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice and increased insulin secretion, possibly due to increased beta-cell proliferation. These results suggest that ginseng berry extracts might have beneficial effects on beta-cell regeneration.

Two Gram-positive bacterial strains, CM2104T and CM2110, isolated from the inner part of abnormally spoiled oriental melon (Cucumis melo) in Korea, were subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The cell-wall peptidoglycan of strains CM2104 T and CM2110 contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid. The predominant menaquinone was MK-8(H 4 ). The major fatty acids detected in the two strains were iso-C 16 : 0 , C 17 : 1 v8c and C 18 : 1 v9c or C 17 : 0 . The DNA G+C content of the two strains was 73 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strains formed a coherent cluster with a clade comprising two Janibacter species, Janibacter limosus and Janibacter terrae. Strains CM2104 T and CM2110 exhibited a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value of 99?7 % and a mean DNA-DNA relatedness level of 89 %. Strains CM2104 T and CM2110showed 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity levels of 97?8-98?4 % to the type strains of J. limosus and J. terrae. DNA-DNA relatedness between strains CM2104 T and CM2110 and the type strains of these two Janibacter species was 7-11 %. On the basis of the phenotypic and phylogenetic data and genomic distinctiveness, strains CM2104 T and CM2110 should be placed within the genus Janibacter as members of a novel species, for which the name Janibacter melonis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CM2104 T (=KCTC 9987 T =DSM 16063T =JCM 12321 T ).

We developed a transgenic Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) inbred line, Kenshin, with high tolerance to soft rot disease. Tolerance was conferred by expression of N-acyl-homoserine lactonase (AHL-lactonase) in Chinese cabbage through an efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. To synthesize and express the AHL-lactonase in Chinese cabbage, the plant was transformed with the aii gene (AHL-lactonase gene from Bacillus sp. GH02) fused to the PinII signal peptide (protease inhibitor II from potato). Five transgenic lines were selected by growth on hygromycin-containing medium (3.7% transformation efficiency). Southern blot analysis showed that the transgene was stably integrated into the genome. Among these five transgenic lines, single copy number integrations were observed in four lines and a double copy number integration was observed in one transgenic line. Northern blot analysis confirmed that pinIISP-aii fusion gene was expressed in all the transgenic lines. Soft rot disease tolerance was evaluated at tissue and seedling stage. Transgenic plants showed a significantly enhanced tolerance (2-3-fold) to soft rot disease compared to wild-type plants. Thus, expression of the fusion gene pinIISP-aii reduces susceptibility to soft rot disease in Chinese cabbage. We conclude that the recombinant AHL-lactonase, encoded by aii, can effectively quench bacterial quorum-sensing and prevent bacterial population density-dependent infections. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to demonstrate the transformation of Chinese cabbage inbred line Kenshin, and the first to describe the effect of the fusion gene pinIISP-aii on enhancement of soft rot disease tolerance.