• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.56-60
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• 2017

This study investigated the in vitro symbiotic seed germination of the achlorophyllous orchid, Gastrodia elata, using a new Mycena species. A leaf-disc ($2{\times}2cm$) of Quercus accutissima was inoculated with either of the two fungal species, NIFOS101 (NCBI accession number KY449288) or KFRI1212 (HQ662845), following which it was placed on water agar medium, prior to sowing seeds of G. elata. After 20 days of symbiotic culture, NIFOS101 and KFRI1212 germinated 94% and 70% of G. elata seeds, respectively, although the initiation of protocorm development was induced much earlier by KFRI 1212 than by NIFOS101. Furthermore, the NIFOS101 mycelia grew much faster than KFRI 1212 at all temperatures tested. A phylogenetic analysis using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences showed that NIFOS101 belonged to a clade with M. purpureofusca, which completely differed from the clade with KFRI1212. This study not only identified a new fungal species, NIFOS101, which improved the rate of symbiotic seed germination up to 94% as compared to KFRI1212 (70%), but also revealed that G. elata required a broad taxonomic range of fungi for its symbiotic germination.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.282-288
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• 2013

Gastrodia elata Blume is a achlorophyllous orchid plant that has been used in traditional medicine to treat many human illnesses, such as vertigo, hemiplegia, and epilepsy. It contains three major pharmacological substances; gastrodin, ergothioneine, and vanillyl alcohol. Here we investigated the quantitative changes in those functional components by cultivation conditions and harvest times. The content of ergothioneine was different with cultivation areas, while gastrodin accumulated the higher levels than vanillyl alcohol regardless of cultivation areas. The smaller tubers contained the higher concentrations of gastrodin and the lower concentrations of ergothioneine than did the larger tubers. The cultivation under sun shade screen increased the concentrations of both gastrodin and vanillyl alcohol but decreased the levels of ergothioneine. We also determined the contents of functional substances depending on the harvest times. The concentration of gastrodin was higher in October than in April, while the level of ergothioneine was higher in April than in October. Interestingly, the use of sexually propagated seed tubers produced 1.9 times higher levels of gastrodin compared to vegetatively propagated seed tubers. In this study, we found that three major functional substances in G. elata tubers altered depending on various cultivation practices, which might be important to increase the economic values of G. elata tubers.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.440-446
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• 2012

Gastrodia elata, an achlorophyllous orchid plant, is rare medicinal plant. We investigated the genetic diversity in G. elata from 4 locations by using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) markers. Shannon's information Index (S.I.) indicating genetic diversity ranged from 0.255 (Pocheon) to 0.322 (Muju) with the mean of 0.29. The level of genetic diversity was lower than other plant and most genetic diversity was allocated among individuals within populations (26.81%). The UPGMA dendrogram based on genetic distance failed in showing decisive geographic relationship. In the case of gastrodin (GA), the major components in G. elata, Sangju was highest. The ergothionine (ERG) was detected a lot of contents in Muju and Pocheon. In conclusion, our results is very important information for explaining relationship of genetic variation and functional substances without the effects of environment factors and developing genetic marker by ISSR in G. elata, which may be responsible for the development of breeds with a lot of functional substance in G. elata.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.229-235
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• 2014

Gastrodia elata Blume, an achlorophyllous orchid plant, has been used in traditional medicine and harvests in spring and fall. Here we investigated the quantitative changes of amino acids in G. elata by harvest times and seed tubers. In the results, we found that there was not big difference in contents of total amino acids but the distribution of amino acids differed depending on harvest times. 19% of total amino acids were asparagin and valine, an essential amino acid, occupied 10% within total amino acids in the tubers harvested in October. Among amino acids in the tubers harvested in April, serine occupied 23% and arginine, an essential amino acid, occupied 10% within total amino acids in tuber. Interestingly, the use of sexually propagated seed tubers produced high concentration of total amino acids compared to vegetatively propagated seed tubers. As for sexually propagated seed tubers, essential amino acids contents similar to the tubes harvested in October and nonessential amino acids contents similar to the tubers harvested in April. In this study, we found that amino acids contents in G. elata tubers altered depending on various cultivation practices. Therefore if these results can be applied to food industry, the value of G. elata as a natural food resource will be enhanced to a great extent.