Hui Yeong Jeong

Cnidium officinale (Makino) Kitag (C. officinale; 2n = 2x = 22) is a medicinal plant that exhibits species-wide infertility due to

Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. (L. chuanxiong) is a traditional medicinal food in East Asia. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the effects of various carbohydrates on L. chuanxiong. It covers rhizome induction, acclimatization, and field growth. In the context of this study, the most effective carbohydrates for promoting rhizome induction in vitro to field growth ex vitro of L. chuanxiong were identified as maltose treatments with a concentration of 4% and 6%. It has been demonstrated that, particularly at a concentration of 4%, this treatment is particularly beneficial for in vitro rhizome development of L. chuanxiong. Following acclimatization, the 6% maltose treatments exhibited the highest fresh weight (3.3 ± 0.2 g). Following the process of field growth, there was a significant increase in the fresh weight of the rhizome under the 6% maltose treatment (160.8 ± 22.2 g) in comparison with the other treatments. This investigation is the first study on rhizome production of L. chuanxiong. It is clear that the appropriate carbohydrate treatment protocol is key to optimizing rhizome production and providing fundamental data for the best propagation of L. chuanxiong.

Hui Yeong Jeong ･Hanna Shin ･Jin Gyu Han ･Ji Ah Kim. J Plant Biotechnol 2025;52:150-5. https://doi.org/10.5010/JPB.2025.52.017.150

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the plant growth promoting effect of rhizobacterial endophytes on Cnidium officinale Makino cultivated in Korea.BRMethods and Results: Twenty-four rhizobacterial were isolated from C. officinale Makino, and the L2 strain observed to have excellent plant growth promotion ability. Based on 16s rRNA sequence analysis, L2 was identified as Enterobacter ludwigii. The selected endophyte was evaluated for indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, phosphate solubilizing assay, and extracellular enzyme activity to determine the growth promoting effect of the strain on C. officinale Makino under pot conditions. L2 produced IAA and siderophore and exhibited phosphate solubilizing activity. L2 was inoculated to the pot to evaluate the growth of C. officinale Makino. The shoot fresh weight and rhizome dryweight of C. officinale Makino inoculated with L2 after 5 weeks were higher than those of control samples.BRConclusions: This study suggests that rhizobacterial endophytes can be used as a growth promoter and may be a potential for biofertilizer in the cultivation of Cnidium officinale Makino.

Cnidium officinale Makino, a perennial crop in the Umbeliperae family, is one of Korea’s representative forest medicinal plants. However, the growing area of C. officinale has been reduced by plant disease and soil sickness caused by fusarium wilt. This study isolated rhizosphere bacteria from C. officinale, and their antagonistic activity was evaluated against Fusarium solani. Particularly, four isolated strains, namely, PT1, ST7, ST8, and SP4, showed a significant antagonistic activity against F. solani. An in planta test showed that the mortality rates of shoots were significantly low in the PT1-inoculated group. The fresh and dry weights of the inoculated plants were also higher than that of the other groups. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified the strain PT1 as Leclercia adecarboxylata, and downstream studies confirmed the production of antagonism-related enzymes such as siderophore and N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase. The phosphorous solubilizing ability and secretion of related enzymes were also analyzed. The results showed that PT1 strain could be utilized as promising plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and biocontrol agents (BCAs).

: Cnidium officinale Makino, a perennial crop in the Umbeliperae family, is harvested in the summer for medicinal purposes. The average temperature in Korea has recently increased, and consequently, the area used to cultivate C. officinale has been reduced, and plant disease and soil sickness have increased. In this study, rhizosphere bacteria were isolated from C. officinale, and their antagonistic activity evaluated against Fusarium solani, which is a major issue during repeated cultivation. Twenty-eight strains were isolated from the root and rhizosphere soil, of which seven showed antagonistic activity against F. solani and were further investigated. An in planta test found that the dead rate of shoots was significantly lower in the group inoculated with PT1 isolated from the root tissue and that the fresh and dry weights were also higher, when compared with the other groups. PT1 was thus considered to have antagonistic activity against F. solani. The 16S rRNA analysis identified the PT1 as Leclercia adecarboxylata, and downstream studies confirmed the production of enzymes related to antagonism, such as siderophore and N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase. The phosphorous solubilizing ability and secretion of related enzymes were also confirmed. The results indicate that PT1 could be utilized as a PGPR to help control fusarium wilt.

Hui Yeong Jeong ･Ji Ah Kim. J Plant Biotechnol 2022;49:325-30. https://doi.org/10.5010/JPB.2022.49.4.325

Key message Overexpression of acdS in petunia negatively affects seed germination by suppression of ethylene biosynthesis and signaling genes and induction of abscisic acid biosynthesis genes in the seeds. Abstract The acdS gene, which encodes 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase, has been overexpressed in horticultural crops to improve their tolerance to abiotic stress. However, the role of acdS in the germination of crop seeds has not been investigated, despite its suppression of ethylene production. In this study, acdS overexpression significantly reduced seed weight and germination rate in transgenic petunia cv. Merage Rose (T5, T7, and T12) relative to wild type via the suppression of ethylene biosynthesis and signaling genes and induction of abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis genes. The germination rate of T7 was significantly lower than those of T5 and T12, which was linked to higher expression of acdS in the former than the latter. The addition of exogenous ACC and gibberellic acid (GA₃) to the germination medium improved the germination rate of T5 seeds and GA₃ promoted the germination rate of T12 seeds. However, neither ACC nor GA₃ promoted the germination rate of T7 seeds. The improved germination rates in T5 and T12 were associated with the transcriptional regulation of ethylene biosynthesis genes, particularly that of the ACO1 gene, signaling genes, and ABA biosynthesis genes. In this study, we discovered a negative role of acdS in seed germination in petunia. Thus, we highlight the need to consider the negative effect of acdS on seed germination when overexpressing the gene in horticultural crops to improve tolerance to abiotic stress.

Background: The present study investigated the types and concentrations of plant hormones affecting somatic embryo induction from leaves, stems, and roots of Cnidium officinale Makino. Methods and Results: Somatic embryos could be induced using two methods: direct and indirect somatic embryogenesis. Direct somatic embryogenesis was induced when the whole explants were grown in a medium supplemented with cytokinin (e.g., kinetin), while indirect somatic embryogenesis was induced when the medium was supplement with auxin [eg., 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)]. Both direct and indirect somatic embryos were mostly induced from leaves. The highest direct somatic embryo induction (95.8%) was obtained from leaf explants grwon on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.5 - 1.0 ㎎/ℓ kinetin. The highest indirect somatic embryo induction (75.0%) was obtained from leaf explants grown on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 ㎎/ℓ 2,4-D. The induced somatic embryo could successfully germinate and acclimatize. Conclusions: Our results can be useful for establising a mass propagation protocol for C. officinale.