• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.613-621
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• 2011

Bog bean (Menyanthes trifoliata L.) is an endangered species in Korea, inhabiting in montane wetlands. Its' habitats are decreasing due to artificial disturbances and climate change in Korea. Interspecies competitions determine the distribution of a species and it is important to examine the effects of companion species on the growth of a species. To reveal the effects of habitat substrate and companion species on the growth of bog bean, we compared the growth parameters of bog bean at three substrate conditions where plant communities were formed: water column, Sphagnum mat, and paddy soil. Bog bean had the highest relative coverage at Sphagnum mat condition and there are few species whose height were higher than it. In contrast, there were many species larger than bog bean at paddy soil condition. The maximum coverage of bog bean was the largest at water column condition, and the lowest at paddy soil condition. Our results indicate that the growth of bog bean was more restricted by interspecific competition at paddy soil condition than at Sphagnum mat condition. Those results suggest that bog bean avoid competitions by expansion of rhizome rather than elongation of its height. For conservation or creation of bog bean habitats, it is necessary to offer the environment where other species cannot survive well.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.102-107
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• 1998

Solomon's seal (Polygonatum odoratum) seedlings raised through its seeds can replace the rhizomes impelling higher cost for transplanting, This experiment was done to determine the seed characteristics and the germinating processes to give some information on bulk production of seedlings using the seeds. The external or internal morphology of seeds or seedlings grown in lab. or greenhouse was examined mainly with stereomicroscope. The external shape of Solomon's seal seed was hard seed-coat and orthotropous ovule with linear type embryo stretching to the center of seed. Germination proceeded through the several steps. The lower part of seed embryo having the primordia of bulbil and roots first grew before the bulbil and roots was developed from the primordia. The lower part of embryo was enlarged toward the endosperm of seed as soon as seed germinated. Then epicotyl was formed on the apex of bulbil. The epicotyl was elongated after at least 6-week chilling treatment for breaking its dormancy and the first leaf shape was affected by light intensity given during seedling emergence. The bulbil was the first organ of the rhizome used as tea or herb medicine.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.142-148
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• 1998

The Polygonatum spp. used in this study was collected from 1994 to 1997, and planted by species in Hamyang medicinal plant experimental station field. $30{\sim}40 $ species of Polygonatum spp. have been known to be distributed in the northern hemisphere, and $14{\sim}18$ species in Korea. In this study, collected seven species of Polygonatum spp. were investigated. Plant height was highest in Polygonatum stenophyllum followed by P. falcatum, P. humile, P. lasianthum var. coreanum.. Leaf length was longest in P. falcatum and shortest in P. odoratum and leaf width was the most wide in P. odoratum var. pluriflorum. P. stenophyllum had 111 flowers per stem. The other species had $14{\sim}22$ flowers per stem. The ratio of flower setting in each species was high at two but was 95.2% at above four in P. stenophyllum. The number of fruits was 14.8, 15.4 and 17.7 in P. odoratum, P. falcatum and P. humile, respectively. Other species did not produce fruit. Fruit setting percentage was high in P. odoratum as 81.5%. The number of branched rhizome doubled every year.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.69-75
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• 2010

Objectives : The root and rhizome of "Gangwhal" have been used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of cold, fever, headache, swelling, arthritis, rhinitis, and cardiovascular diseases in Korea and china. In china, Gangwhal is well known as a useful oriental medicinal plant that treats cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, headache and hypertension, but little research exists about the effect of O. koreanum on cardiovascular disease. Therefore we investigated the vasorelaxant effects of O. koreanum and compared the vasorelaxant effects of four species of Gangwhal. Methods : The vasorelaxant effects of the ethanol extracts of Ostericum koreanum (NK and BK), Notopterygium incisium (NI), and N. forbesii (NF) on phenyleprine ($1{\mu}M$) or KCl (60mM) pre-contracted rat thoracic aorta rings were compared. The vasorelaxant effects of the water extract and ethanol extract of NK on phenyleprine ($1{\mu}M$) or KCl (60mM) pre-contracted rat thoracic aorta rings were compared. And the vasorelaxant effects of chloroform, ethylacetate and water fraction of ethanol extract of NK on phenyleprine ($1{\mu}M$) or KCl (60mM) pre-contracted rat thoracic aorta rings were compared. Results : Ethanol extracts of NK, BK, NI and NF relaxed rat thoracic aorta rings with a concentration-dependent manner, and NK showed the greatest vasorelaxant effect. And ethanol extract of NK was much more effective than water extract of NK. Finally, chloroform, ethylacetate and water fraction of ethanol extract of NK also relaxed rat thoracic aorta rings, and chloroform fraction showed the greatest vasorelaxant effect.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2009

Anticandidial activity of seven herbal extracts, Taraxacum Platycarpum, Houttuyniae Herba, Lonicerae Flos, Anemarrhena Rhizome, Forsythia Fruit, Paeoniae Ratix, and Coptidis Rhizoma, were determined against five different Candida sp. by agar diffusion assay. The concentration of total phenolic compounds of seven herbal extracts ranged from 0.6 to $2.5{\mu}g/mg$. The total antioxidant activities showed that Taraxacum Platycarpum and Houttuyniae Herba were 60% in 80% ethanol extract and Lonicera Flower and Paeoniae Ratix were 70, 75%, respectively, in 100% ethanol extract. Coptidis Rhizoma extract showed antifungal activity against non-Candida albicans, C. tropicalis and C. glabrata. The MIC values of a compound separated in TLC from Coptidis Rhizoma extract were 24, and $48{\mu}g/mL$ against C. tropicalis and C. glabrata. The above compound showed the same retention time with berberin in HPLC analysis.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1994

This study was carried out to investigate the changes in volatile constituents concerning with the flavor of the green ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) during storage in underground pit ($15^{\circ}C$, RH 95%). And the constituents of essential oil of etiolated shoots formed on the mother rhizomes during the five months storage in the dark under same conditions were compared with those of mother rhizomes. The essential oils of Korean domestic ginger (Bong-dong cultivar) were isolated by simultaneous steam distillation and extraction method (SDE). Then the compositions of the essential oils were analysed by GC and GC-MS spectrometry. The major compounds of essential oil from the fresh rhizomes were zingiberene, $citronellol+{\beta}-sesquiphellandrene$, ${\beta}-phellandrene$, camphene, geranial, ${\gamma}-bisabolene$, ar-curcumene+geranyl acetate, ${\alpha}-pinene$, ${\beta}-gurjunene$, limonene and neral. The content of monoterpene hydrocarbons increased with a concomitant lowering in the amounts of sesquiterpene hrdrocarbons and oxygenated sesquiterpenes during storage of rhizomes although contents of the oxygenated monoterpens changed little or slightly during the storage. During the storage the content of such monoterpenes as camphene, ${\beta}-phellandrene$ and citral (neral and geranial) increased whereas the content of such sesquiterpenes as zingiberene and $citronellol+{\beta}-sesquiphellandrene$ decreased. The composition of shoot oil differed from that of mother rhizome oil in having higher content of terpene hydrocarbons and also in the higher content of bornyl acetate, ${\beta}-gurjunene$ and ar-curcumene+geranyl acetate and lower in citral (neral and geranial).

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2018

We analyzed the antioxidant and anti-wrinkle activities of berberine, isolated from dried rhizome of Coptis japonica Makino, to determine its cosmetic potential. We performed the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol]-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazoliumbromide (MTT) assay to evaluate the toxicity of the berberine. We also measured the ROS and hyaluronic acid production, and expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha ($TNF-{\alpha}$) to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-wrinkle activities of berberine, respectively. The cytotoxicity of ultraviolet light, in presence of berberine, was measured by the MTT assay using CCD-986sk fibroblasts, and no cytotoxicity was observed at concentrations less than $25{\mu}g/mL$. We also found that berberine decreased ROS production in a concentration-dependent manner and promoted the synthesis of hyaluronic acid. Further, berberine reduced the protein levels and mRNA expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9, which are associated with wrinkle formation, and increased the expression of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2. In addition, the inhibitory effect of berberine on $TNF-{\alpha}$, known as pro-inflammatory cytokine, was inhibited by $TNF-{\alpha}$ gene in a concentration-dependent manner. These results suggest that berberine holds cosmetic value owing to its antioxidant activity, by inhibiting ROS production and anti-wrinkle activity by reducing MMP-2 and MMP-9 and increasing TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 expression.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.384-391
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• 2016

In previous studies, we confirmed that the ethanol extract of Polygonatum sibiricum (ID1216) has anti-obesity effects on high-fat diet-fed mice. To identify the obesity-related genes affected by ID1216, we studied its effects both in vivo and in vitro. In mice, single administration of ID1216 increased the expression of obesity-related genes including sirtuin1 (SIRT1), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ${\gamma}$ coactivator $1{\alpha}$ ($PGC1{\alpha}$) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ${\alpha}$ ($PPAR{\alpha}$) compared to that in mice administered the vehicle; their downstream genes (uncoupling proteins, acyl-CoA oxidase, adipocyte protein 2, and hormone-sensitive lipase) were also increased by ID1216. In fully differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes, ID1216 showed the same effects on anti-obesity genes as those in the animal model. Based on these results, we propose that ID1216 has anti-obesity effects by regulating the $SIRT1-PGC1{\alpha}-PPAR{\alpha}$ pathway and their downstream genes, thereby controlling energy and lipid metabolisms.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.189-207
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• 2006

Goodyera rosulacea, which is morphologically similar to G. repens, is described recently as a new species based on its distinct morphological characters such as rosette-formed leaves, short rhizome and habitat. To verify the taxonomic identity of G. rosulacea and its taxonomic relationship within Korean Goodyera taxa, sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA and the trnL region of cpDNA from 24 accessions including 1 outgroup accession were analyzed. Aligned sequences were analyzed using maximum parsimony and distance method, and the taxonomic identity and the taxonomic relationships among the related taxa were estimated by the existence of private marker gene and the phylogenetic tree of the aligned sequences. Molecular data indicate that G. rosulacea gas several private marker genes and shows monophyly in phylogenetic trees of both ITS and trnL sequences. the pairwise distance between G. rosulacea and the orher taxa of Korean Goodyera was 3.49-6.68% for ITS region and 5.05-9.53% for trnL region, indicating that G. rosulacea could be treated as an independent species. Therefore, our molecular data support the taxonomic of G. rosulacea as a distinct species of Korea. In phylogenetic trees, G. rosulacea formed same clade with G. repens, which has similar morphological characters with G. rosulacea, and showed the lowest pairwise distance with G. repens among Korean Goodyera taxa. These molecular data sugguested that G. rosulacea and G. repens are closely related taxa.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.16-34
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• 2011

Scirpus L. s.l. of Cyperaceae has been regarded as a monophyletic group, but the taxa of Scirpus s.l. were rearranged into the five independent genera in recent molecular phylogenetic research: Bolboschoenus (Asch.) Palla, Schoenoplectus (Rchb.) Palla, Schoenoplectiella Lye, Scirpus L., and Trichophorum Pers. In this study, we examined the morphological characteristics and presented the delineation of the five genera of Scirpus s.l., including 21 taxa from South Korea. As a result of our investigation and analysis of domestic collections and those from abroad, the each taxon could be identified using key characteristics of the rhizome features; a cross-section of culm; the degree of development and the width of leaves; the shapes of the membranous region of leaf sheath; and the shapes and size of inflorescence, bract, floral scale, and achene. These major characteristics are illustrated and artificial keys are suggested in this study. In addition, we suggest a new combination for an unrecorded taxon of Schoenoplectiella that was discovered in Gangwon-do, Goseong-gun and give it the Korean name, as 'a-do-song-i-go-raeng-i'.