Rapid Identification of Ginseng Cultivars (Panax ginseng Meyer) Using Novel SNP-Based Probes

Abstract

In order to develop a novel system for the discrimination of five ginseng cultivars (Panax ginseng Meyer), single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping assays with real-time polymerase chain reaction were conducted. Nucleotide substitution in gDNA library clones of P. ginseng cv. Yunpoong was targeted for the SNP genotyping assay. From these SNP sites, a set of modified SNP specific fluorescence probes (PGP74, PGP110, and PGP130) and novel primer sets have been developed to distinguish among five ginseng cultivars. The combination of the SNP type of the five cultivars, Chungpoong, Yunpoong, Gopoong, Kumpoong, and Sunpoong, was identified as ‘ATA’, ‘GCC’, ‘GTA’, ‘GCA’, and ‘ACC’, respectively. This study represents the first report of the identification of ginseng cultivars by fluorescence probes. An SNP genotyping assay using fluorescence probes could prove useful for the identification of ginseng cultivars and ginseng seed management systems and guarantee the purity of ginseng seed.

EST-SSR Marker Sets for Practical Authentication of All Nine Registered Ginseng Cultivars in Korea

“…However, for ginseng there have not been sufficient molecular markers or a systematic authentication system available. Recently, some molecular markers have been developed for identification of individual ginseng cultivars which include sequence tagged site markers for ‘Chunpoong’ and ‘Gumpoong’ [31], a cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence marker for ‘Gopoong’ [32], molecular authentication of ‘Gopoong’ and ‘Gumpoong’ through internal transcribed spacer and 5.8S rDNA sequencing [33], and a single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping assay for five cultivars, ‘Chunpoong’, ‘Yunpoong’, ‘Gopoong’, ‘Gumpoong’, and ‘Sunpoong’ [34]. However, these studies were each performed based on one region of the genome and cannot discriminate each cultivar from the others, so they are difficult to utilize for practical and systematic authentication of the cultivars.…”

Major repeat components covering one‐third of the ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) genome and evidence for allotetraploidy

“…Research on ginseng has historically focused mainly on its medicinal components and their efficacy (Shibata et al, 1966;Lee and Huemer, 1971;Coon and Ernst, 2002;Park et al, 2012a). Genetic and genomic studies, such as functional analyses of genes (Tansakul et al, 2006;Kim et al, 2008Kim et al, , 2011, marker development Jo et al, 2011;Sun et al, 2011;Kim et al, 2012), construction of DNA libraries (Hong et al, 2004;Bang et al, 2010) and transcriptome sequencing (Chen et al, 2011;Wu et al, 2012) have been initiated only recently.…”

Applications of molecular markers in the discrimination of Panax species and Korean ginseng cultivars ( Panax ginseng )

“…Yunpoong-specific SNP in the exon of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene was identified and this polymorphism was able to distinguish this cultivar from the major ginseng cultivars in Korea [53] . Jo et al [6] produced three pairs of TaqMan-MGB probes for an SNP that is present in genomic DNA to perform genotyping; thus, they developed a method for discrimination of Korean ginseng ( Fig. 4 ).…”

“…However, recently, foreign ginseng, which is cheaper than Korean ginseng and is of questionable safety, has been illegally distributed as a Korean domestic produce, thereby hindering the development of the ginseng industry [4] , [5] . In addition, relatively inexpensive local varieties with less uniform seeds are being misleadingly packaged as new varieties, putting cultivators of genuine new varieties at a disadvantage [6] . Consequently, it is becoming difficult for domestic cultivators to obtain guaranteed stable profits.…”