• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.81-90
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• 2014

This study examined the main factors affecting the distribution of Phytolacca americana, an exotic plant species in Korea, in coastal sand dunes. The areas examined from June 2004 to February 2006 were in Sindusagu where was located on Sindu-ri, Wonbuk-myen, Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do. The vegetation, sediment properties, sizes and ages of Robinia pseudoacacia, P. americana and Pinus thnunbergii and spatial distribution of P. americana were assessed. Firstly, correlation coefficients (CC) between P. americana's root biomass and sediment properties were not significant. Secondly, of the four community types, P. americana was not in the mixed herbaceous community and its density was the highest in the P. thunbergii-R. pseudoacacia and R. pseudoacacia community The Poisson distribution analysis revealed the distribution of P. americana to be severely clumped. The root biomass of P. americana and the basal area of R. pseudoacacia were significantly correlated, but the CCs between P. thunbergii and other two species were not significant. The ages of P. americana and R. pseudoacacia in a quadrat were significantly correlated. Thirdly, P. americana's ages in a quadrat were mostly similar to each other. Therefore, the spatial distribution of P. americana was largely influenced by R. pseudoacacia but not by the sediment properties, and plants in a narrow area were concurrently germinated.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 1982

From the seeds of Phytolacca americana, acentonylidene americanin. A was isolated and its structure elucidated mainly by spectroscopic methods. This compound is not a genuine constituent but formed in the tissue on heating with acetone.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 1985

Strong anti-inflammatory saponins Phytolacca americana (Phytolaccaceae) wereobtained from callus mass derived from the stems and also from that derived from the roots of cultivated Phytolacca americana (which were designated as PAS and PAR, respectively). The callus were grown on Linsmair and Skoog's agar medium supplemented with 1ppm OF 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Phytol accoside B and D were obtained from PAS and phytolaccoside A and B from PAR. The thin layer chromatograms of the crude saponins from PAS and PAR were similar to those of original plants. PAS contained phytolaccoside B as a major component while phytolaccoside E was a major saponin in original plants.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.203-208
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• 1998

We isolated and characterized an antifungal peptide from the seeds of Phytolacca americana. Growth inhibition assay with Botrytis cinerea was used to screen inhibitory proteins from 60 different plant species. A 4 kDa antifungal peptide (Pa-AFP) inhibitory to hyphal growth of B. cinerea was found in the seeds of P. americana. The peptide Pa-AFP was purified to homogeneity by chromatographies of Sephadex G-50, DEAE-Sepharose, Sephacryl S-300, and C18 reverse-phase HPLC. Western blot analysis showed that a polyclonal antibody raised against the purified peptide cross-reacted with a 4 kDa protein in seeds but not in root and leaf tissues of P. americana. Pa-AFP inhibited the hyphal growth of Botrytis cinerea, Rihzoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, and Magnaporthe grisea. Pa-AFP exhibited growth inhibition of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain BWG7a, which was sensitive to osmotin.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.321-337
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• 2018

The characteristics of 124 Phytolacca americana present areas and 88 surrounding absent areas over the country were investigated and compared from July 2016 to Sept 2017. The Phytolacca americana was confirmed as having been nationally distributed and is usually found in roadsides at an altitude of 380 m (26%), forest edges (24%), forests (19%), sunny spots (60%), dry soils (53%), sandy loams (31%) and sand+gravel soils (22%). 321 taxons consisting of 79 families, 209 genera, 289 species, 2 subspecies, 26 varieties and 4 cultivars and 286 taxons consisting of 76 families, 195 genera, 256 species, 2 subspecies, 24 varieties and 4 cultivars were found in the Phytolacca americana present areas and the absent areas, respectively. The relative net contribution degree was found highest in the Phytolacca americana (100) followed by Robinia pseudoacacia (29.4), Humulus japonicus (8.8) and Artemisia princeps (6.0) in the present areas, while it was found highest in Robinia pseudoacacia (100) followed by Humulus japonicus (44.4), Artemisia princeps (35.9), Pueraria lobata (18.6) and Setaria viridis (12.3) in the absent areas. The Raunkier's life form in the present/absent areas was found highest in the therophytes (34%/34%), followed by hemicryptophytes (17%/18%), megaphanerophytes and mesophanerophytes (18%/17%), nanophanerophytes (11%/11%) and geophytes (9%/11%). There was no significant difference in the species diversity between the present (2.141) and the absent (2.124) areas. However, the allelopathic agent and light blocked-out by the Phytolacca americana could possibly inhibit germination and the development of other species; especially, where a difference in species diversity was found high in forests, compared to other habitats (p=0.0605). Accordingly, it is suggested to review possible disturbances of native species habitats in shady spots including forest gaps, although the effect of Phytolacca americana on the ecological system in the suburban open and disturbed areas is not large.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.652-665
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• 1997

Allelopathic effects on some crops(rice, barley, wheat, Chinese cabbage, leaf mustard, onion, welsh onion, tobacco, red pepper) for extracts of Phytolacca americana and Armoracia rusticana were investigated in MS solid medium. Germination percentage, radicle length, hypocotyl length, plant height, fresh weight, dry weight, and seedling vigor were rapidly inhibited by methanol extract from Phytolacca americana according to increase of the concentration in test plants. Autotoxicity of Phytolacca americana began to appear at concentrations greater than 50$\mu$l methanol extracts per 20ml medium. The fresh weight and dry weight of Phytolacca americana were also decreased by its own methanol extract according to increase of the concentration. Initial amounts of growth of all crops were also inhibited by methanol extracts from Armoracia rusticana, but the inhibitory effects were lowered than those of methanol extracts of Phytolacca americana. Of four fractions, ethyl acetate, petroleum ether, $1^{st}H_2O, 2^{nd}H_2O$, reextracted from methanol extracts of Phytolacca americana, the ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest allelopathic effects on germination percentage and initial amounts of growth. Chlorophyll contents of rice, barley and Chinese cabbage were more inhibited in the ethyl acetate fraction than in the other fractions. Free proline content of Chinese cabbage was increased 31.2 times in the 100$\mu l$ ethyl acetate fraction, and the contents of rice and barley were also increased according to concentration levels in the ethyl acetate fraction.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.195-204
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• 2010

In the study, the effects of elevated $CO_2$ and temperature on the photosynthetic characteristics, chlorophyll content, nitrogen content, carbon content, and C/N ratio of Phytolacca insularis and Phytolacca americana were examined under control (ambient $CO_2+$ ambient temperature) and treatment (elevated $CO_2+$ elevated temperature) for 2 years (2008 and 2009). The photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and water use efficiency of two plant species were higher under the treatment than the under the control. The stomatal conductance of P. insularis was higher under the control, but that of P. americana was not significantly affected by $CO_2$ and temperature under the treatment. The chlorophyll contents of two species were decreased about 72.5% and 20%, respectively, by elevated $CO_2$ and temperature. The nitrogen contents of two species were not significantly altered by increase in $CO_2$ and temperature. The carbon contents of the two species were higher under the treatment than under the control. The C/N ratio of P. insularis was higher under the treatment but that of P. americana was not significantly affected by $CO_2$ and temperature. These results demonstrated that the physiological responses of P. insularis native plants might be more sensitively influenced by a $CO_2$-mediated global warming situation than those of the P. americana invasive plants.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.83-84
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• 1979

Caffeic aldehyde was isolated from the seeds of Phytolacca americana. This is the first reported occurrence of the compound in nature.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.366-373
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• 2015

This study was conducted to clarify the antimicrobial effect, antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of the biological composition having the Phytolacca americana, and to enhance the natural materials utilization of foods and cosmetics. The antimicrobial activities of the different parts of P. americana were evaluated using the agar diffusion test. The antimicrobial activity of P. americana was relatively high in Malassezia furfur known as a skin fungi and Vibrio parahaemolyticus compared to Escherichia coli and Staphy-lococcus epidermidis. However, the antimicrobial activity in Vibrio parahaemolyticus did not show at all parts of P. americana. Both the DPPH radical scavenging activity and ABTS radical scavenging activity have been increased with the higher concentration of methanol extract. In particular, leaf extract of P. americana exhibited the highest activity both ABTS radical scavenging activity and DPPH radical scavenging activity. The nitrite scavenging activity was decreased when the pH was changed from pH 1.2 to pH 6.0. The highest nitrite scavenging activity was exhibited from the methanol extract of fruit, followed by root, stem, and leaf at pH 1.2. However, the nitrite scavenging activity at pH of 6.0 was not almost detected. All plant parts of P. americana showed tyrosinase inhibitory activity. The highest activity was found in the stem, and followed by root, leaf, and fruit in order. These tyrosinase inhibitory activity was progressively increased in a concentration-dependent manner. In this experiment on the methanol extracts of different organ from P. americana, we confirmed that the extract of P. americana showed potent tyrosinase inhibitory activity. Taken together, we conjectured that the P. americana had the potent biological activities, therefore this plant having various functional components could be a good material for development into source of natural food additives and cosmetics.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.385-390
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• 2003

An antimicrobial peptide was purified from the roots of Phytolacca americana L. and was designated as PAMP-r. Purification was carried out by DEAE-cellulose anion exchange, sephadex G-75 gel filtration, Mono S cation exchange, and Resource RPC reverse phage chromatography. The molecular weight of PAMP-r was estimated to be about 4,900 Da by 15% SDS-PAGE under reducing condition. PAMP-r exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. PAMP-r was stable against heat and pH treatment; its activity was not diminished by the heat treatment up to $80^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, and it showed a pH stability in the range between pH 3.0 to pH 8.0.